Hong Kong activist sentenced to 15 months in prison for role in Tiananmen vigil

A Hong Kong court sentenced a 36-year-old barrister to 15 months in prison on Tuesday for inciting an unauthorized assembly to commemorate those who died in China’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

Activist Chow Hang-tung, of the since-closed Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, was arrested the day before the June 4 anniversary of the crackdown last year.

Police have banned Hong Kong’s annual Tiananmen vigils for the last two years, citing coronavirus restrictions.

But coming after the mass pro-democracy protests in 2019, many activists saw the bans as an attempt to shut down displays of defiance to