The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal overturned on Thursday the acquittal of pro-democracy activist Chow Hang-tung in reinstating her conviction of inciting others to participate in an unauthorized assembly under Section 17A(3)(a) of the Public Order Ordinance and the common law. Chow was previously sentenced to 15 months prison on January 4, 2022 over inciting others to participate in Hong Kong’s Tiananmen Square vigil, which was held on June 4, 2021. She organized the vigil, which commemorates the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. The vigil was prohibited by the police as a COVID-19 curb prior to it being held.

The High Court previously quashed Chow’s conviction on December 14, 2022 by finding that Chow could challenge the police prohibition on the vigil in a criminal trial. The court also considered the operational proportionality of the prohibition in light of prevailing circumstances then. The court found that the police did not discharge their positive duty under Section 9(4) of the Public Order Ordinance and failed to consider practical measures to facilitate the assembly.

However, the Court of Final Appeal overturned the High Court’s decision. It held that Chow could not challenge the legality of a police prohibition as a defense in criminal proceedings. The court held:

[I]f an offense under [S]ection 17A(3) permits a defendant to re-open in the prosecution the question of the validity of a prohibition even though it has been upheld by the Appeal Board, this would certainly weaken the authority of a prohibition and might encourage people to hold and attend the public meeting despite the prohibition[.]

In addition, the court rejected Chow’s argument which claimed that the police unlawfully and disproportionately interfered with her fundamental rights in prohibiting the vigil. The court found that the police prohibition on the vigil was rationally connected to the aim of protecting public health.

Chow organized the Tiananmen Square vigil when she was vice-chair of pro-democracy group Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. On November 2, 2023, the Hong Kong High Court dismissed Chow’s application which sought to declare her as a party to the injunction appeal proceedings of the protest-related song “Glory to Hong Kong.” On March 11, 2023, Chow was sentenced to four and a half months in prison over failing to comply with a national security police data request.