VSSDM Statement on the Hong Kong Alliance Case Verdict: Memory Should Not Be Convicted, Pursuing Democracy Should Not Be a Crime

The Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement (VSSDM) strongly condemns today's verdict by the Hong Kong government against the Hong Kong Alliance and its members. This was not a fair legal process; it was a political prosecution of peaceful dissidents.

For years, Lee Cheuk-yan, Chow Hang-tung, and Albert Ho worked peacefully and non-violently to preserve the memory of June 4th and to advocate for democracy and human rights. By convicting them under the charge of "subverting state power," the Hong Kong government has criminalized years of work devoted to preserving history and defending human rights. This is, in substance, an attempt to use the judicial system to extinguish the last voices of conscience in Hong Kong's civil society. This is not only an attack on three individuals; it is a reckoning aimed at the memory and conscience of Hong Kong society as a whole.

The trial itself was far from fair: the case was heard by National Security Law-designated judges, with no jury; and the defendants were detained for nearly five years before a verdict was even reached. This use of legal process as a vehicle for political suppression exposes how thoroughly Hong Kong's judicial system has been turned into an instrument of the state. A process this flawed cannot produce a verdict that can be called just, and we do not recognize this verdict as carrying any moral authority.

Calling for the vindication of June 4th, pursuing historical accountability, and defending democracy and human rights have always been legitimate concerns for the people of Hong Kong in relation to their own history and society, and are part of basic human rights. The peaceful expression of political beliefs is not a crime; it is the Hong Kong government, not the Hong Kong Alliance or its members, that has made it one.

Although the Hong Kong Alliance was forced to disband and its leaders imprisoned, its decades-long mission of preserving the memory of June 4th has not disappeared with it. Hong Kong can ban public mourning, but it cannot ban people from remembering history. An organization can be dissolved, but the truth of what happened, and the pursuit of democracy and freedom, will not disappear because of it.

From Canada, VSSDM will continue, through peaceful and lawful means, to preserve the memory of June 4th, to stand in solidarity with Hong Kong's democracy and human rights defenders, and to tell the story of the 1989 pro-democracy movement to Canadian society. We call on the Hong Kong government to immediately and unconditionally release Lee Cheuk-yan, Chow Hang-tung, and all individuals imprisoned for peacefully expressing their political views. We also urge the Canadian government and the international community to take this case into account as concrete grounds when evaluating Hong Kong policy, including targeted sanctions.

We believe: Memory should not be convicted. Peace should not be convicted. The pursuit of democracy and freedom should never be convicted.

VSSDM will continue to never forget June 4th, to safeguard history, and to uphold the values of democracy, human rights, and freedom.

— Edmund Leung

Chair, Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement (VSSDM)