Two previous leaders of Hong Kong’s traditional vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown were found guilty on Friday in a national security case brought forth under a law imposed by China, which has effectively suppressed the city’s once-thriving pro-democracy movement.

Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, who were former organizers of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, were accused in 2021 of inciting subversion under the national security law. Despite pleading not guilty, they now face a maximum possible prison sentence of 10 years. The alliance was also deemed guilty in the case.

The judges determined that the alliance’s advocacy to “end one-party dictatorship” was not a call for the ruling Communist Party to revert to a multiparty system outlined in the constitution, but rather to end its leadership position under the constitution. They clarified that the term “end” in the statement implied “overthrowing” and “undermining.”

According to the verdict, the defendants persisted in their stance even after the law’s implementation, disregarding the fact that it contravened the constitution, which designates the party’s leadership as a key aspect of socialism with Chinese characteristics. This was ruled as falling under “other unlawful means” as per the security law.

This ruling is one of the most recent developments involving Hong Kong’s previously active pro-democracy movement, which has been largely dismantled by authorities in Hong Kong and China.

For thirty years, the candlelight vigil organized by the alliance was the primary large-scale public event where tens of thousands would gather annually to honor the victims of the Tiananmen Square incident. The vigil was prohibited in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, shortly before Beijing imposed the security law on Hong Kong to suppress the massive anti-government protests of 2019.

Lee and Chow greeted the public gallery before leaving the courtroom, with sentencing expected to occur at a later date. They will seek lighter penalties next week as mentioned by one of the judges.

Observers see this trial as emblematic of the diminishing freedom of expression in Hong Kong since its return to Chinese rule in 1997.

The judges did not provide the rationale for the conviction during the hearing, stating that the full judgment would be accessible online at a later time.