Jimmy Lai was found guilty, along with two other pro-democracy activists from Hong Kong, of inciting them to participate in last year's vigil in memory of the bloody events in Tiananmen Square. His presence at the press conference introducing the event, according to Judge Amanda Woodcock, "was a deliberate act to garner support and publicize the unauthorized assembly that followed."
Together with the media mogul, 74, former journalist Gwyneth Ho and the well-known rights lawyer Chow Hang-tung ended up in the bar.
The people accused by the Hong Kong authorities are around thirty: despite the police ban, they took part, on June 4 last year, in the demonstration to remember the victims of the 1989 repression by Beijing. The determination of the sentence will come later, the three at trial claimed to have gone to light candles "on a personal basis" and not to have encouraged others to participate.
For Amnesty International these are verdicts that represent the latest "attack on the rights to freedom of expression and assembly" in Hong Kong, as the authorities have criminalized a "peaceful and socially distant demonstration".
(Unioneonline / ss)
