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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Amy Hawkins Senior China correspondent

Hong Kong national security trial of three pro-democracy activists begins

Chow Hang-tung stands in darkness holding a candle with tall city buildings illuminated behind her; her face is illuminated and she wears a black T-shirt with a graphic of a candle on it.
Chow Hang-tung (seen here in June 2021 before a vigil on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre) has been detained for more than four years. Photograph: Lam Yik/Reuters

The national security trial of three pro-democracy activists who organised an annual memorial in Hong Kong to mark the Tiananmen Square massacre opened on Thursday, in another landmark case brought under the Beijing-imposed law that has practically crushed protests in the semiautonomous Chinese city.

Chow Hang-tung, Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho are charged with inciting subversion under Hong Kong’s national security law. Their trial is one of the most high-profile national security cases to be heard in Hong Kong since Beijing imposed the law in 2020. The defendants face a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment if convicted. The law has a near-100% conviction rate.

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