A rare victory for pro-democracy activists in the city came Thursday when three former organisers of Hong Kong's annual vigil in honour of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown won their bid at the top court to overturn their conviction for refusing to submit information to police.

Chow Hang-tung, Tang Ngok-kwan, and Tsui Hon-kwong, key members of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, were convicted in 2023 as part of Beijing's crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. They were sentenced to four and a half months but have already completed their jail time. The group was well known for holding candlelight vigils in the city every year to mark the anniversary of the Chinese military's crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Beijing. However, under the pressure of a strict national security law imposed by China, they decided to disband in 2021.

The shutdown and the case, according to critics, demonstrated that the city's Western-style civil liberties were eroding even though there had been assurances that they would be preserved when the former British colony was handed to Chinese control in 1997. Before the group disbanded, the police asked for details about its activities and finances, claiming it had ties to pro-democracy groups abroad and labeling it a "foreign agent." However, the group refused to comply, insisting it was not involved in such activities. On Thursday, Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal ruled in favour of the three individuals. Chief Justice Andrew Cheung announced the decision in court. During a January hearing at the top court, Chow, who defended herself, argued that her case was an example of what a police state looks like.

"A police state is created by the complicity of the court in endorsing such abuses. This kind of complicity must stop now," she said. Since the security law was introduced in 2020, several overseas judges who were not permanent members of Hong Kong's top court have resigned. This has raised concerns about trust in the city's judicial system. In 2024, Jonathan Sumption also stepped down, stating that the rule of law had been seriously weakened. However, in January, Chief Justice Cheung said that these early resignations did not indicate a loss of judicial independence. For many years, Hong Kong's Victoria Park hosted an annual vigil to remember the June 4 crackdown, making it the only large public commemoration on Chinese soil. Thousands of people attended each year, but in 2020, authorities banned the event, citing COVID-19 restrictions.

After the Covid-19 restrictions ended, a pro-Beijing group organised a carnival in the park, taking over the space. People who tried to remember the event near the park were arrested. Meanwhile, Chow and two other former alliance leaders, Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho, were charged with subversion under the security law in a different case. They are still in custody, waiting for their trial to start.