According to local media, Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai (74) has been sentenced to thirteen months in prison for his participation in a Tiananmen commemoration. The prominent defender of democracy was found guilty last week of attending an illegal rally.
Seven others also have to go to prison because of the commemoration of June 4, 2020. The South China Morning Post reported that they received sentences of up to 14 months. Lai, the owner of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, has already been jailed for participating in banned democracy protests in 2019.
Hong Kong generally commemorates the victims of the 1989 protest in Beijing in Tiananmen Square, also known as Tiananmen Square. The army brutally ended the protest against the communist government, resulting in estimated thousands of deaths.
Authorities cited the corona pandemic as a reason to ban the commemorations for the past two years, but government critics say that is due to increasing influence from Beijing.
Unlike mainland China, the Tiananmen protest in Hong Kong can be commemorated. That’s because Hong Kong has been a semi-autonomous region of China since 1997 with its own mini-constitution. Still, the central government’s influence has limited democratic freedoms in Hong Kong and crushed the pro-democracy movement.