Hong Kong activists jailed over Tiananmen crackdown vigil

HONG KONG (AP) — Nine Hong Kong activists and ex-lawmakers have been handed jail sentences of up to 10 months over their roles in last year’s banned Tiananmen Square candlelight vigil. They are part of a group of 12 defendants who pleaded guilty earlier this month to participating in the vigil that was the only large-scale public commemoration on Chinese soil of the 1989 crackdown in Beijing on student-led protests. Police last year banned the annual vigil for the first time in three decades, citing public health risks from the coronavirus pandemic. Critics believe the ban is part of the crackdown on opposition in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory following months of anti-government protests in 2019.