Three Hong Kong Activists Sentenced to Prison Under National Security Law

On Friday, three Hong Kong activists who organized annual vigils in remembrance of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown were sentenced to about five to seven years in prison. The case prompted criticism from abroad and is widely seen as a barometer of the city's eroding freedoms.

Lee Cheuk-yan, Chow Hang-tung, and Albert Ho were convicted of inciting subversion earlier this year under a Beijing-imposed national security law. Lee received a seven-year prison term, while Chow was sentenced to seven years and three months. Both had pleaded not guilty.

Ho received a lower sentence of five years and two months, partly because he pleaded guilty. All three were leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.

For three decades, the alliance organized a Tiananmen vigil that was the only large-scale, public commemoration of the 1989 crackdown in China.