June 4th Activist Accused Earlier of Incitement Has Her Conviction Overturned After Appeal

Tonyee Chow Hang-tung, the former vice-chairperson of the HK Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (The Alliance), was accused of publishing an article online in 2021, calling on citizens to attend the unapproved June 4 rally. She was convicted of inciting others to knowingly participate in an unauthorized assembly and sentenced earlier to 15 months in prison. Chow later appealed against the conviction and sentence, and the High Court judge today (Dec. 14) ruled to revoke both the conviction and sentence.

After the verdict was announced, Chow expressed complete surprise at the result. The representative of the Department of Justice (DoJ) told the judge that it would study the court verdict before deciding whether to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal.

Chow, 37, was charged from May 29 to June 4, 2021, with inciting others to knowingly participate in an unauthorized assembly. She was convicted at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court earlier this year and sentenced to 15 months in prison. In addition, in the 2020 June 4 case, she was convicted of inciting and participating in an unauthorized assembly and sentenced to 12 months in prison, of which 10 months must be served separately from the 2021 case. She had to serve a total of 22 months in prison for the two cases combined.

After winning the appeal, it means that Chow’s 15-month imprisonment is revoked, but the 12-month imprisonment for the 2020 case is still in effect, and Chow has been remanded for nearly a year.

The magistrate of the original trial stated in the verdict that the appellant published a post titled “Candlelight Innocent, Stand Firm” on social platforms and also published in a newspaper titled “Candlelight Bears the Burden of Conscience, Hongkongers Persist in Telling the Truth” on June 4. The court finds the two articles together have a total of 10 sentences that can promote incitement, such as “Let the regime see our will to fight,” “Hope to see your candlelight at 8 pm tonight.”

However, during her appeal, she pointed out that the accusation of “inciting assembly” made in her articles was not the one and only reasonable inference. For example, the citation in the article, such as “holding the ground,” could be interpreted as an abstract concept or a physical location.

In addition, the appellant believes that even though there is no police approval of the rally, it does not represent an order to block Victoria Park and prevent others from going there. Moreover, as theaters and concerts had all been reopened during the time of the incident, it was unreasonable for the police not to allow The Alliance to hold outdoor gatherings when there was a low risk of transmission (of the COVID-19 pandemic).

Chow, who is also a barrister, is also a human rights defender. In the two years since the Hong Kong National Security Law (NSL) was passed, she has been fighting for her ideals in various ways, even though she has been remanded in custody for the past year.

The HK Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China is a pan-democratic political organization in Hong Kong. It was established in Hong Kong on May 21, 1989, during the peak of the global parade supporting the 1989 democracy movement. Its five long-time slogans include “Release of Democracy Fighters, Vindication of June 4.” From 1990 to 2019, it held the June 4 parade and the Victoria Park candlelight vigil for 30 consecutive years, becoming an annoyance to the CCP.

After the implementation of the National Security Law, the NSL Department of the Hong Kong Police, on Sept. 5, 2021, accused The Alliance of being a “foreign proxy.” Two days later, seven members of The Alliance’s Standing Committee were arrested and remanded in custody. Four days later, on Sept. 9, Chow, the vice chairperson of The Alliance, was charged by the police with the crime of “inciting subversion of state power.” On Sept. 25, 2021, The Alliance was forced to disband.