Joint NGO leter to demand immediate and unconditional release of Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-yan

We, the undersigned civil society organisations and individuals, call on the governments of the G7 and EU/EEA members to exert diplomatic pressure, both bilaterally and multilaterally, on the Hong Kong government to drop all charges and release Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-yan immediately and unconditionally.

We are appealing for international attention to their impending trial.

Chow, a distinguished barrister and an Amnesty International-recognized prisoner of conscience, and Lee, a prominent labour leader and fellow pro-democracy activist, have been unjustly imprisoned for over 1,500 days simply for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly.

Both activists are defending their charges of inciting subversion of state power under the 2020 National Security Law (NSL) for their roles in the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (Hong Kong Alliance). These charges carry a maximum penalty of ten years' imprisonment. Their trial scheduled to begin in November 2025 is now further delayed two more months without providing any reason.

For thirty years, the Hong Kong Alliance had organized the world's largest annual commemoration of the victims of the military crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests on 4 June 1989. The peaceful, student-led protests advocated for political and economic reforms, and an end to government corruption in China.

The Chinese Red Cross estimated that 2,600 protesters and Beijing citizens lost their lives in the crackdown1. Since 1990, hundreds of thousands gathered in Hong Kong's Victoria Park for an annual candlelight vigil to remember the victims of the massacre.

It is imperative that on the eve of their trial - set to commence on 3 November 2025 - we stand united to demand justice and freedom for Chow and Lee. Their involvement with the Hong Kong Alliance, as well as their rightful calls for the Chinese authorities to disclose the truth about the crackdown and to accept responsibility for the loss of lives, must not serve as grounds for persecution.

We call upon the governments of the Group of Seven (G7) and member states of the European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA) to closely monitor the trial and exert diplomatic pressure, both bilaterally and multilaterally, on the Hong Kong government to immediately release Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-yan and to drop all criminal charges against them.

We also call on the governments of the G7 and EU/EEA member states to utilise international human rights instruments and mechanisms to ensure accountability for the Hong Kong government and officials responsible for human rights violations.

Co-signed by:

• Amnesty International
• Canada-Hong Kong Link 港加聯
• Toronto Association for Democracy in China 多倫多支聯會
• Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement (VSSDM) 温支聯
• Action Free Hong Kong Montreal
• Asian Canadian Labour Alliance
• Australia Hong Kong Link
• Bay Area Friends of Tibet
• Bonham Tree Aid
• Chinese Canadian Concern Group on CCP's Human Rights Violations
• Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation
• Democracy for Hong Kong (D4HK)
• Freedom House
• Freiheit für Hongkong e.V.
• Friends of Hong Kong (Calgary) 香港之友 (卡加利)
• Grupo de Apoio ao Tibete-Portugal
• Hong Kong Centre for Human Rights 香港人權資訊中心
• Hong Kong Committee in Norway 挪威香港文化協會
• Hong Kong Democracy Council
• Hong Kong Forum, Los Angeles 洛杉磯香港論壇
• Hong Kong Labour Rights Monitor
• Hong Kong Watch (HKW)
• Hongkonger in Deutschland e.V. 香港人在德國協會
• Human Rights in China
• Human Rights Watch
• International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
• June Fourth Sparks
• Lady Liberty Hong Kong (LLHK)
• Milk Tea Alliance
• Monitoring Committee on Attacks on Lawyers, International Association of People's Lawyers (IAPL)
• Movement for a Democratic China (Calgary) 中國民主促進會 (卡加利)
• Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD)
• New York for Hong Kong (NY4HK)
• NGO DEI
• Northern California Hong Kong Club 北加州香港會
• Re-Water
• Regional Tibetan Youth Congress - Toronto
• Saskatchewan Stands with Hong Kong
• The European Hong Kong Diaspora Alliance 歐洲香港人聯盟
• The Tibet Support Committee, Denmark
• The Vancouver Hong Kong Forum
• Tibet Solidarity
• Tibet Support Group Ireland
• Toronto Hong Kong Parent Group
• Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project
• World Hong Kong Forum
• Fernando Cheung 張超雄, former Legislative Councillor of Hong Kong 前香港立法會議員
• Alan Lau, Journalist and filmmaker
• Alex Neve, OC, Senior Fellow, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa
• Andrea Melody Chuh, MPhil/PhD student, University College London
• Anna Cheung, Professor of Biology, Manhattanville University
• Anthony Kin Kwok Tong
• Benjamin Fung, Professor, McGill University
• Benson Wong 黃偉國
• Brian Kern
• Charles Burton
• Chi Kwan Ho
• Ching Cheong 程翔, HK journalist who was sentenced to 5 years but released after 3 years due to strong international pressures
• Chung Kai Sin 單仲偕, former Legislative Councillor of Hong Kong 前香港立法會議員
• Diana Lary, professor emeritus, University of British Columbia
• Dick Chan 陳世超, Founding Chair, Toronto Association for Democracy in China
• Eliza Chandler, Associate Professor, Toronto Metropolitan University
• Fengsuo Zhou 周鋒鎖, Student leader of 1989 Tiananmen Democracy Movement
• Hsuan-Yi Li 李宣儀, Taiwan Democracy 臺灣民主
• Jan Wong, journalist and author
• Jeremy Brown, Professor of History, Simon Fraser University
• John Cartwright, Past President, Toronto & York Region Labour Council
• Josephine Chiu-Duke, Professor Emerita, Asian Studies, University of British Columbia
• K.W. Chung 鍾劍華
• Ka Tat Tsang, professor at The University of Toronto
• Ken Moffatt, Professor Social Work, Toronto Metropolitan University
• Kevin Yam 任建峰, lawyer
• Lee Wing Tat 李永達, former Legislative Councillor of Hong Kong 前香港立法會議員
• Leo K. Shin, Associate Professor of History and Asian Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
• Lily Chang, Secretary Treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress
• Maria Cheung, Professor Emerita, University of Manitoba
• Marie Clarke Walker, Past Chair of ILO Worker Committee and the Women's Committee, International Trade Union Congress (ITUC)
• Mr. Nam-Kiu Tsing
• Ms. Eli Wakamatsu
• Nathan Law 羅冠聰, former Legislative Councillor of Hong Kong 前香港立法會議員
• Patrick Poon
• Penghsuan Lee, Chair, Hong Kong Outlanders
• Prof. Gill H. Boehringer IAPL Australian branch
• Prof. Stuart Russell (retired), Macquarie University School of Law, Sydney Australia
• Rev. Chu Yiu-Ming 朱耀明牧師, Former Executive Member of Hong Kong Alliance
• Ricker Choi, pianist, artist, activist
• Rowena He, Research Fellow, Hoover Institution / Stanford University
• Sushil Handa, Coordonnateur Chine, Amnistie internationale Canada francophone
• Ted Hui 許智峯, former Legislative Councillor of Hong Kong 前香港立法會議員
• The Very Rev. Richard S. Soo, S.J.
• Wang Dan 王丹, Student leader of 1989 Tiananmen Democracy Movement
• Yi Lian 練乙錚

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