Police arrest organizer of annual Hong Kong Tiananmen Square vigil

Police in Hong Kong have arrested an organizer of an annual candlelight vigil event to honor the victims of Tiananmen Square on Friday night.

Chow Hang Tung, the vice-chair of the Hong Kong Alliance, along with a food delivery man, were arrested for promoting the event on social media after the government banned it, according to The Associated Press.

The event was allegedly canceled due to the coronavirus, but the city has not had a local infection for six weeks.

The annual vigil in Hong Kong at Victoria Park brings in tens of thousands of people, AP noted. The event is held to honor the thousands of students who were killed on June 4, 1989, for participating in pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing.

All events commemorating Tiananmen Square in China have been banned.

The charges against Tung and the delivery man for promoting an illegal event could land them a year in jail, and participating in an illegal event can land them five years.

Tung attended the vigil event last year despite its cancellation.

“I’m already being persecuted for participating and inciting last year’s candlelight vigil,” she told AP. “If I continue my activism in pushing for democracy in Hong Kong and China, surely they will come after me at some point, so it’s sort of expected.”

Jimmy Lai, a media mogul in Hong Kong, was recently sent to jail for a year for participating in pro-democracy protests.