Via IAPL – This won’t please Beijing…But don’t worry they’ve still got her locked up for two other charges
Hong Kong’s top court has overturned the conviction of an activist who tried to stage a Tiananmen Square vigil last year, finding police acted unlawfully.
Lawyer Chow Hang-tung – who was jailed in January – will remain in custody as she faces two other charges under the city’s national security law.
But she won her appeal against her “unauthorised assembly” conviction on Wednesday,
Hong Kong Barrister Chow Hang Tung won the appeal of 2021 June 4 commemoration against both conviction and sentencing.
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A judge ruled the police hadn’t properly justified the vigil’s ban.
Hong Kong authorities have cited Covid restrictions as the reason for its ban on Tiananmen vigils since 2020.
The city used to be one of the only sites on Chinese territory where authorities allowed tributes.
Ms Chow was arrested in June 2021 for “inciting” the public to take part in that year’s vigil. She had led the Hong Kong Alliance, a group which had organised the annual demonstrations and that year she posted articles on social media and on news sites urging Hong Kongers to turn out or light a candle in tribute.
At her trial in January this year, she was jailed for encouraging the assembly in breach of Covid laws.
Magistrate Amy Chan said she had been “self righteous” in “completely disregarding the law to think that the freedom of assembly was more important than public health”.
However a High Court judge on Wednesday found police had not properly explored the options for how the demonstration could have gone ahead in a Covid-safe manner.
