Woman activist jailed in Hong Kong over Tiananmen vigil wins appeal against conviction

Court finds police failed to fulfill their duty to facilitate public gatherings

The former vice-chair of a group that organised annual Tiananmen Square vigils in Hong Kong on Wednesday won an appeal against her conviction and 15-month prison sentence.

Chow Hang-tung, 37, is one of the city’s most prominent pro-democracy activists and a former leader of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. She was sentenced to prison in January for inciting others to take part in an unauthorised assembly in June last year.

Ms Chow, who is also a lawyer, was arrested on 4 June 2021 when her articles appeared on social media and in a newspaper asking members of the public to “light candles to seek justice for the dead”.