In full: Tiananmen vigil activist Chow Hang-tung’s mitigation after guilty verdict in national security trial

A Hong Kong court heard mitigation statements Friday from pro-democracy activist Chow Hang-tung and two co-defendants following their convictions last week for “inciting subversion” under the national security law. Chow, former barrister and longtime organizer of the banned June 4 Tiananmen vigil, spoke for several minutes before the judge halted her remarks. Her full written statement, later posted online, argued that the ruling criminalized belief in democracy itself.

The three defendants—Chow Hang-tung, labor rights veteran Lee Cheuk-yan, and veteran barrister Albert Ho—were found guilty last Friday after a year-long trial that concluded in January. Ho had pleaded guilty in January and faces sentencing alongside Chow and Lee. All three face up to a decade in prison. The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, the pro-democracy group they led, was also convicted and faces liquidation.

In her mitigation statement, Chow rejected the court’s characterization of their advocacy as subversive. “The 206-page judgment, after all, boils down to saying that pursuing democracy is a crime,” she wrote. She argued that the national security law functions as a tool of political control rather than a legitimate legal framework.

Chow contended that the law seeks not only to punish actions but to criminalize beliefs. “Under this judgment,” she wrote, “anyone who believes in the principle of ‘ending one-party dictatorship’ has nowhere left to stand.” She condemned what she described as the court’s uncritical enforcement of state demands, comparing it to the legal system under Nazi Germany.

“Genuine rule of law simply cannot survive under a dictatorship,” she wrote. “When the Court disregards the boundaries between right and wrong in the face of demands to ‘end one-party dictatorship,’ its conduct becomes as absurd as claiming a duty to execute Jewish people in Nazi Germany.”

She rejected the notion that their calls for democracy relied on hatred or division. “A belief in equality and justice, anchored in respect for humanity and truth, has always been a more potent and enduring force than hatred,” she wrote. She also refused to express remorse, calling such a demand hypocritical and historically unjust.

Chow closed by reaffirming her commitment to democracy. “Whether inside or outside prison,” she wrote, “I will persistently strive to release pro-democracy activists, vindicate the 1989 Democracy Movement, hold those responsible for the Massacre to account, end one-party dictatorship and build a democratic Hong Kong and China.” She called the work a “solemn vow” made before the candlelit vigils of Victoria Park.

Sentencing has been adjourned. The defendants remain in custody.