HONG KONG — Three Hong Kong activists from a now-defunct group that organized annual vigils commemorating China’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters have been convicted on Saturday for failing to offer authorities with info on the group in accordance with a nationwide safety regulation.

Chow Grasp-tung, Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong have been arrested in 2021 throughout a crackdown on the town’s pro-democracy motion following large protests greater than three years in the past. They have been leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Help of Patriotic Democratic Actions of China earlier than it disbanded below the shadow of the Beijing-imposed regulation.

The alliance was greatest identified for organizing candlelight vigils in Hong Kong on the anniversary of the Chinese language navy’s crushing of the 1989 Tiananmen Sq. pro-democracy protests. Critics say its shutdown has proven freedoms that have been promised when Hong Kong returned to China in 1997 are eroding.

Earlier than the group voted to disband, police had sought particulars about its operations and funds in reference to alleged hyperlinks to democracy teams abroad in August 2021, accusing it of being a international agent.

However the group refused to cooperate, arguing police have been arbitrarily labeling pro-democracy organizations as international brokers. It added the police didn’t have a proper to ask for its info as a result of it was not a international agent and the authorities didn’t present enough justification.

Below the safety regulation’s implementation guidelines, the police chief can request a spread of knowledge from a international agent. Failure to adjust to the request may lead to six months in jail and a superb of 100,000 Hong Kong {dollars} ($12,740) if convicted.

On Saturday, principal Justice of the Peace Peter Legislation dominated the defendants have been obliged to reply the discover served to them and their non-compliance was unjustified.

The annual vigil organized by the alliance was the one large-scale public commemoration of the June 4th crackdown on Chinese language soil and was attended by large crowds till authorities banned it in 2020, citing anti-pandemic measures.

Chow, together with two different former alliance leaders, Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho, have been charged with inciting subversion of state energy below the safety regulation in 2021. The alliance itself was charged with subversion.

The nationwide safety regulation criminalizes secession, subversion, and collusion with international forces to intervene within the metropolis’s affairs in addition to terrorism. Other than the activists, pro-democracy writer Jimmy Lai can be going through collusion prices below the regulation.