悼念六四何罪之有？可恥檢控圖阻嚇巿民紀念屠城真相
Media Release
Toronto / Vancouver / Calgary
Wednesday May 29, 2024
On May 28, 2024, Hong Kong police arrested six people, including activist Chow Hung-tung and her mother, for “exploiting an upcoming sensitive date” to “incite hatred against the central government and the Hong Kong government.” Their crime? Posting on Facebook page of remembrance of Tiananmen crackdown on June 4, 1989.
Toronto Association for Democracy in China [TADC], Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement [VSSDM] and Movement for Democracy in China (Calgary) [MDCC] jointly condemn this outrageous and shameful act.
“Coming a week before the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, this is another shameful attempt to silence dissent and curb public commemoration of the Tiananmen tragedy,” said Cheuk Kwan of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China.
The arrests were made under the newly adopted security law known as Article 23. The law covers treason, sedition, and state secrets, and allows for closed-door trials.
Mabel Tung of the Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement said: “Article 23 further escalates the oppression of people of conscience, making anything and everything prosecutable under the pretense of ‘endangering national security.’”
Since the ban of the world’s largest candlelight vigil in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park in 2020, Canadian commemorative sites have seen greater number of Hong Kongers and people of diverse backgrounds showing up than ever before.
This year’s Canadian commemorative events will be presided by Rev Chu Yiu-Ming, currently in exile from Hong Kong. Rev Chu was a leader of the Yellow Bird operation that rescued more than 400 Tiananmen student leaders to safe countries. He was also a pivotal figure in the Occupy Central movement in 2014.
“In this current political climate where disinformation and erasure of history is rampant, lighting a candle in remembrance of the victims of Tiananmen crackdown has become an act of resistance,” Chu said. “We’ll not be intimidated. Commemoration should not be a crime. It is an honorable tradition that we have carried out for the last 35 years and will continue.”
悼念六四何罪之有？可恥檢控圖阻嚇巿民紀念屠城真相
多倫多支持中國民運會（民運會 TADC）聯合溫哥華支援民主運動聯合會（溫支聯 VSSDM）及卡加利中國民主促進會（民促會 MDCC）發出聯合聲明，譴責香港警方於2024年5月28日拘捕包括鄒幸彤及其母親在內六個人，指其「利用將至的敏感日子」在網上發布「挑起巿民對中央政府、特區政府及司法機構的憎恨」的訊息。
「臨近六四天安門35周年，港共政府可恥的檢控，企圖令異見者噤聲，威嚇參與悼念8964的巿民。」民運會共同主席關卓中說。這次是自「23條」實施後的首次拘捕，「23條」還包括叛國、煽動叛亂、及洩漏國家機密等罪，兼允許閉門審判。溫支聯李美寶則說：「23條進一步以危害國家安全為名打壓所有有良知的人。」
自從全球最大型悼念六四的香港維園燭光晚會於 2020年開始被禁，加拿大的悼念集會每年聚合越來越多香港人以及其他不同背景的人士。今年朱耀明牧師將出席加拿大悼念六四活動。朱牧師是黃雀行動的領袖，曾協助超過四百名天安門學生領袖逃離中國，他亦是2014年佔領中環行動的召集人之一。
「以現時的政治氣候，扭曲及篡改歷史成了常態，點起燭光紀念天安門死難者已成為了一種抗爭。」朱牧師說。「我們不會被嚇怕，悼念亦不應是罪行。悼念六四傳承了35年，亦會一直薪火相傳下去。」