HKFP Live: National security trial of Tiananmen vigil group begins

2026-01-25 - 21:07

1pm: The live blog has concluded. Stay tuned to HKFP for more coverage on the trial. Three Tiananmen vigil activists and their group are set to stand trial for a national security charge in Hong Kong. A heavy police presence was spotted outside the West Kowloon Law Courts Building on January 22, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. The activists – Lee Cheuk-yan, Chow Hang-tung, Albert Ho – and the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China stand accused of inciting subversion under the Beijing-imposed national security law. They face up to 10 years behind bars if convicted. The long-awaited trial, which was originally slated to begin last May but has since been postponed twice, started at 10am on Thursday. 12.50pm: Hearing finishes for today The judges have adjourned the trial after the prosecution finished reading out details about Ho’s case. Chow will return to court in the afternoon to liaise with the prosecution and Lee’s lawyers about the admitted facts for her case. The discussion is not part of the proceedings, and judges will not be present, judge Lee says. The mother of activist Chow Hang-tung (centre) outside West Kowloon Law Courts Building on on January 22, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Before the adjournment, Lee apologises for the delays to this case due to reasons “beyond the court’s control.” Lee presided over the national security trial of pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai, which only saw a verdict handed down last month, with Lai being found guilty. Lee also says the court will handle an application from Chow regarding allowing overseas witnesses to testify on Friday. Chow had previously asked to have individuals overseas act as defence witnesses by giving evidence via video, but was rejected. The prosecution is expected to formally open its case against Lee, Chow, and the Alliance on Monday. 12.20pm: Ho’s advocacy continued after security law enacted, prosecution says Veteran democrat Emily Lau arriving at the West Kowloon Law Courts Building on January 22, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Lai says Ho continued to call for an end to one-party rule in China even after the national security law came into effect in June 2020. 11.58: Court resumes after break The hearing will continue after the break. Chow leaves the defendant’s dock and returns to the table where lawyers are seated. 11.22am: Mid-morning break The court adjourns for a break. Before the bench rises, judge Alex Lee interrupts Lai, saying the prosecutor has finished reading 26 pages of the total 37-page document in about an hour. “We probably need another half an hour. And Lai, you are also trailing off. I think you must be tired,” Lee said. A corrections vehicle arrives at West Kowloon Law Courts Building on January 22, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Lee also asks Chow, who is sitting with other lawyers, to return to the defendant’s dock. 11am: Prosecutor recounts Ho’s decades of activism Lai continues reading out the details in Ho’s case, citing Ho’s public remark made as far back as in 2003, when the government’s attempt to pass its own national security law to fulfil Article 23 of the Basic Law prompted 500,000 people to march in protest. In speeches Ho made during decades of candlelight vigils, the ex-lawmaker repeatedly advocated an end to one-party rule. He “put CCP at the opposite of his own understanding of democracy,” Lai says. 10.30am: Prosecutor reads out facts for Ho’s case Prosecutor Ned Lai is reading out a 30-odd-page document outlining the admitted facts in Ho’s case, after Ho, a veteran democrat, pleaded guilty. Albert Ho. File photo: HK Democrats, via Facebook. Lai says the Alliance’s goal of bringing an end to one-party rule in China was a violation of the country’s constitution, which stipulates that the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the defining feature of the nation’s socialist system. “There is no lawful means for ending the leadership of the CCP,” Lai says in Cantonese. 10.10am: Two activists plead not guilty, one pleads guilty The activists submit their pleas. Lee and Chow plead not guilty, while Ho pleads guilty. The Alliance also pleads not guilty. 10.05: Proceedings begin The proceedings begin. Chow, who is a barrister and is representing herself in the trial, is allowed to move from the defendant’s dock to where other lawyers are sitting. She is carrying a file of documents. 9.58am: Defendants arrive in court The defendants are now seated in the dock. The first to be led in by corrections officers is Lee, who waves to those in the public gallery as he walks in. He is wearing a navy jacket and appears cheery, chatting with the officers sitting next to him. A heavy police presence was spotted outside the West Kowloon Law Courts Building on January 22, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Ho arrives next, looking thinner than the last time he was seen in public. He does not wave to the gallery. Chow arrives in the dock last. She is wearing a beige coat and has her hair up in a pony tail. She waves and bows in the direction of the public gallery and thanks everyone for braving the cold to wait in line. Lee is seated in the row behind Chow and Ho, with Chow to the left and Ho to the right. Corrections officers are seated with them. 9.45am: Foreign consulate representatives present Reporters and members of the public are allowed into the courtroom. Among those in the public gallery are representatives from France, Sweden and Ireland. Representatives from foreign consulates arriving at the West Kowloon Law Courts Building on January 22, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. 9.40am: Alliance members in attendance Tang tells HKFP that around 20 former members and volunteers of the Alliance are here to observe the trial. Among them is Lau Ka-yee, Chow’s friend and a former executive committee member of the Alliance. She held up a gesture representing June 4, the date of the Tiananmen crackdown, when she walked into the building. Lau Ka-yee, a former executive committee member of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, making a gesture representing June 4 as she walks into the West Kowloon Law Courts Building on January 22, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. 9am: Defendants detained for over 1,000 days Since the trio’s arrests in September 2021, Lee and Chow have been detained for over 1,500 days, while Ho has been detained for over 1,300 days. He was briefly released on bail but later remanded for violating bail conditions. 8.30am: Activist at head of queue Tang Ngok-kwan, a pro-democracy activist who is a former member of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, is at the start of the queue. Local media reported that he had arrived on Monday, three days ahead of the trial, putting him first in line. Tang Ngok-kwan, a former member of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, outside West Kowloon Law Courts Building on January 22, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Tang was prosecuted in 2021 in a separate case related to the Alliance, in which he was convicted of resisting providing information to national security police. 8.15: Media restrictions Police told reporters not to conduct interviews with people lining up, saying that would block the flow of pedestrians. Those queuing up were cordoned off by a metal fence. 8am: Long lines outside West Kowloon Law Courts Building A few dozen people are in line outside the West Kowloon Law Courts Building in the chilly weather, with temperatures hovering around 12 degrees in the morning. They are hoping to get a seat inside the courtroom to observe the proceedings.