HONG KONG: Hong Kong's High Court on August 21 convicted two pro-democracy activists of inciting subversion, focusing on their use of the phrase "end one-party dictatorship" in their political activities.

Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, were members of a group that organized annual vigils to remember Beijing's 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square.

Lee and Chow were the former chair and vice-chair of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. They could each face up to 10 years in prison under the National Security Law (NSL), which China imposed.

Three national security judges approved by the government said in their ruling that it was the defendants' repeated and peaceful use of the phrase "end one-party dictatorship", rather than their other political activities or beliefs, that broke the law.

The judges said the defendants intended to make people lose confidence in China's ruling Communist Party (CCP) by creating hostility and division. They said this aimed to undermine Hong Kong's fundamental political system.

The judges also said the defendants knew that their acts of resistance might not involve violence or threats of violence, but that such actions could still violate the NSL and could lead to long prison sentences.

Public commemorations of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests were once legal and tolerated in Hong Kong. They were seen as a symbol of the city's greater freedoms compared with mainland China. However, the events were effectively banned in 2020 after the National Security Law took effect.

Prosecutors argued that the Communist Party's leading role was protected under Article 1 of China's Constitution. The judges rejected the defense's argument that the defendants genuinely believed they were acting within the law because Hong Kong had traditionally protected freedom of speech.

The judges said the two activists had refused to stop their activities and had continued to follow the Alliance's resistance approach until the end.

Some foreign diplomats watched the court proceedings, including representatives from the European Union and the United States.

The National Security Law greatly increased the powers of both the Chinese and Hong Kong governments. It was introduced after months of sometimes violent pro-democracy protests that shook Hong Kong in 2019.

Lee and Chow have been detained since 2021 and had pleaded not guilty to the charge. Albert Ho, 74, another former chairman of the group and a former chairman of Hong Kong's largest opposition party, the Democratic Party, pleaded guilty to the same charge.

Mitigation hearings for Lee and Chow are expected to begin later this month.

Chow, who is a barrister, was one of the most prominent members of Hong Kong's younger generation of pro-democracy activists. She began attending Tiananmen Square protest vigils when she was still a primary school student.

After the verdict, Lee's wife, Elizabeth Tang, told reporters outside the court that the decision was "most unjust".

Tang said she was not surprised by the verdict but remained disappointed and angry because she believed Lee had not committed any unlawful acts.