Hong Kong activists denounced Beijing and called for democracy in a courtroom on Tuesday as two dozen high profile campaigners appeared over a banned vigil to mark the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
The group of defendants at West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts represents a broad section of the pro-democracy movement, from 72-year-old media mogul Jimmy Lai to younger campaigners such as 23-year-old Joshua Wong. "I understand," 64-year-old Leung Kwok-hung, known as"Long Hair", said."The ruthless regime cannot run away from the crime of a massacre. End one party rule."The court heard two of the defendants -- Nathan Law and Sunny Cheung -- were not present because they have fled Hong Kong.Earlier, supporters gathered outside court to shout slogans and display banners defending their right to hold a Tiananmen vigil.
The vigil, traditionally held in Victoria Park, has taken on particular significance in recent years as the semi-autonomous city chafes under Beijing's increasingly authoritarian rule. China's leaders have rejected calls to give Hong Kongers universal suffrage, and portrayed the protests as a plot by foreigners to destabilise the motherland.
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