Hong Kong: Trial of Tiananmen activists a cynical attempt to erase historical memory
The prosecution of Hong Kong activists for commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown is a further escalation in the authorities’ weaponization of national security laws to silence dissent, Amnesty International said today at the opening of the activists’ trial.
Lawyer Chow Hang-tung and trade unionist Lee Cheuk-yan have been detained for more than four years awaiting trial and face years’ more imprisonment on national security charges. Chow and Lee were members of the now disbanded Hong Kong Alliance, which organized the city’s annual Tiananmen Square candlelight vigil for three decades until it was banned amid a clampdown on human rights.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of people were killed when Chinese troops opened fire on protesters in and around Tiananmen Square, Beijing, on 4 June 1989.
“This case is not about national security – it is about rewriting history and punishing those who refuse to forget the victims of the Tiananmen crackdown,” said Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director.
