VIDEO SHOWS: PRISON VANS ARRIVING AT COURT BUILDING / SECURITY OUTSIDE COURT / FAMILY MEMBERS OF DEFENDANTS, U.S. AND EUROPEAN CONSULAR STAFF ARRIVING / SOUNDBITES FROM PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST LEE CHEUK-YAN'S WIFE, PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST AND CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE

STORY: Hong Kong's High Court on Friday (August 21) convicted two former leaders of a disbanded group that organised annual vigils commemorating Beijing's 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, were charged with "inciting subversion of state power" that carries punishment of up to 10 years in jail under a China-imposed National Security Law (NSL). They were former chair and former vice-chair, respectively, of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. Another former chairman of the group and also a former chairman of the city's largest opposition Democratic Party, Albert Ho, 74, had pleaded guilty to the same charge. The Alliance had for decades led annual commemorations in Hong Kong of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing, until the enactment of the NSL in 2020. Outside the court, Lee's wife and veteran labour activist Elizabeth Tang, said she was angered by the verdict. “I don’t think he has committed any unlawful means but still he has found guilty,” Tang told reporters after the verdict. (Camera, Editing, Production: Joyce Zhou; Writing: Greg Torode, Joyce Zhou)

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: HONG KONG, CHINA (AUGUST 21, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. PRISON VAN AS PART OF CONVOY BELIEVED TO BE CARRYING THREE FORMER LEADERS OF DISBANDED GROUP THAT ORGANISED ANNUAL TIANANMEN SQUARE VIGILS ARRIVING AT COURT BUILDING

2. POLICE STANDING BY

3. ANOTHER PRISON VAN AS PART OF CONVOY ARRIVING

4. PEOPLE ENTERING COURT BUILDING UNDER POLICE’S WATCH

5. POLICE DOG STANDING BY

6. PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST LEE CHEUK-YAN'S WIFE, ELIZABETH TANG (RIGHT), AND FORMER HONG KONG ALLIANCE STANDING COMMITTEE MEMBER, LAU KA-YEE (LEFT IN BLACK T-SHIRT), ARRIVING

7. VARIOUS OF U.S. AND EUROPEAN CONSULAR STAFF ARRIVING

8. HONG KONG PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST, TSANG KIN-SHING, ALSO KNOWN AS “THE BULL”, ARRIVING

9. HONG KONG PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST, CHAN PO-YING (RIGHT), ARRIVING

10. SURVEILLANCE CAMERA

11. MEDINA CHOW (WITH FACE MASK), MOTHER OF DEFENDER AND PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST CHOW HANG-TUNG, LEAVING WHILE BEING SURROUNDED BY MEDIA

12. VARIOUS OF PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST LEE CHEUK-YAN'S WIFE, ELIZABETH TANG, POSING FOR PHOTOS

13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) WIFE OF DEFENDER AND PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST LEE CHEUK-YAN, ELIZABETH TANG, SAYING:

“Of course there’s no surprises but still I’m disappointed and I’m angry because I don’t think he has committed any unlawful means but still he’s found guilty. I think it’s most unjust.”

14. POLICE WALKING PAST

15. (SOUNDBITE) (Cantonese) PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST, TSANG KIN-SHING, ALSO KNOWN AS “THE BULL”, SAYING:

“Hong Kong today feels completely foreign to me — I don't recognise it anymore. I'm 70, and for much of my life important events took place in Victoria Park where I voiced my opinions. But now, if I try to speak my mind, I risk being sent to prison and becoming a prisoner."

16. CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE (NATIONAL SECURITY) FOR THE HONG KONG POLICE FORCE, LI KWAI WAH, ARRIVING FOR NEWS BRIEFING

17. MEDIA

18. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE (NATIONAL SECURITY) FOR THE HONG KONG POLICE FORCE, LI KWAI WAH, SAYING:

"National Security Department welcomed the judgement delivered by the court today, convicting the Hong Kong Alliance (members) Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung on charges related to incitement to subversion of state power. The case alleged that they and Albert Ho, who had earlier pled guilty between the 1st July of the 2020 and the 8th September 2021, incited for the Commission of the other presence of the offence of the subversion”

19. MEDIA FILMING

20. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE (NATIONAL SECURITY) FOR THE HONG KONG POLICE FORCE, LI KWAI WAH, SAYING:

“In the judgement, the judges clearly point out the defender had engaged in the activities of the incitement of the subversion of the state power over a prolonged period of the time, even after the Hong Kong National Security Law was promulgate(d) on the 30th of June 2020, when considerable public discussion suggested that the activities were violating the new law.”

21. JOURNALISTS RISING HANDS

22. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE (NATIONAL SECURITY) FOR THE HONG KONG POLICE FORCE, LI KWAI WAH, SAYING:

“It is an indisputable threat that the Hong Kong Alliance has spent years planting seeds of the hatred against the Chinese Communist Party and the Central Government among the Hong Kong peoples. Today's court ruling of the conviction of the Hong Kong Alliance and its Chairman and vice Chairman have fittingly exposed their true colour deliberately inciting others to subversion the state power. “

23. VARIOUS OF EXTERIORS OF HONG KONG WEST KOWLOON LAW COURTS BUILDING