Hong Kong's Tiananmen activists sentenced to up to seven years in prison

Three Hong Kong activists who organised annual vigils commemorating Beijing's 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen Square protests have been handed prison sentences of up to seven years.

Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, were convicted last month of inciting others to subvert state power, under the city's controversial national security law. A third defendant, Albert Ho, 74, had pleaded guilty in January.

The office of United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk called for "these sentences to be quashed".

Hong Kong and Macau were for years the only places on Chinese soil where people could hold gatherings to mark the Tiananmen crackdown - a highly sensitive and heavily censored topic in mainland China.

These gatherings were banned by Hong Kong's authorities in 2020, citing Covid-19 policies, but never resumed. That same year, the national security law, which makes illegal a wider range of dissenting acts, officially came into force.

Authorities say the law is necessary to maintain stability, but critics argue it has eroded Hong Kong's autonomy and created a climate of fear.

Lee, Chow and Ho were charged in 2021. They faced up to 10 years in prison after their conviction.

On Friday, the court sentenced Lee to seven years in prison, while Chow was handed seven years and three months. Ho, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced to five years in prison.