Il Nuovo Postiglione - Hong Kong sentences Tiananmen activists to between 5 and 7 years in jail

Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, Chow Hang-tung, 41, and Albert Ho, 74, have been behind bars since being charged in 2021, and their convictions -- under a national security law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong -- have been condemned by the United Nations, rights groups, and foreign governments.

A court ruled in August that the activists had breached the Chinese constitution by calling for an "end to one-party dictatorship".

Lee and Chow, who pleaded not guilty, were sentenced to seven years and seven years and three months respectively, AFP journalists in court heard.

Ho, a former lawmaker who pleaded guilty in January, received five years and two months.

Chow, a barrister, represented herself, told a hearing last month that she rejected the convictions, adding that she had "nothing to repent for".

The three activists arrived at court smiling and waving to supporters before being escorted into the docks.

Hong Kong and Macau were formerly the only places on Chinese soil that permitted public vigils to mourn those killed on June 4, 1989, when Beijing sent troops and tanks to crush protests calling for political reform in and around the capital's Tiananmen Square.

But public commemoration has been effectively banned in Hong Kong since the Beijing-imposed security law took effect.

The trio were leaders of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance, the group that organised annual vigils in the city's Victoria Park.

- 'Erase memories' -

The group also operated a museum dedicated to the crackdown and held events, including a yearly washing of the "Pillar of Shame" -- a statue to mourn victims.

The statue was dismantled and removed from its long-time plinth at the University of Hong Kong in late 2021, and other local universities followed suit with similar objects.

Prosecutors argued that evidence in the case, including the statue and archives from the Hong Kong Alliance's museum, should be confiscated.

Judge Alex Lee said on Friday the fate of the statue would be decided after a decision was made on its ownership.

Ahead of Friday's sentencing, Chow said "the authorities' true intentions were finally laid bare".

"This prosecution is an attempt to erase memories, particularly those of June 4, by reading too much into certain slogans," she said.

The Danish artist behind "Pillar of Shame", Jens Galschiot, called the outcome of the trial and the statue's potential confiscation "outrageous".

"This is an attack on my private ownership and my artist's work... if they confiscate it," he told AFP.

The statue tells the story of Tiananmen, said Galschiot, who has for years sought to reclaim his work.

If it were destroyed, that would also "destroy the story that everybody should know".

E.Scozzafava--INP