Madrid, 7 (Europe Press)

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken Friday asked the Chinese government to release the four Hong Kong activists imprisoned for taking part in a vigil to commemorate the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre.

“The United States is defending the people of Hong Kong and rejecting the ruling against the activists to attend a celebration,” Blinken said on his Twitter account.

Consequently, he stated that all those imprisoned “should be released in the framework of exercising their freedoms in a non-violent manner.” The activists involved are Joshua Wong, Lester Shum, Tiffany Yuen and Janelle Leung, who were jailed after pleading guilty to the unauthorized meeting on June 4, 2020.

Over the past three decades, Hong Kong has celebrated the massacre every year with a series of mass vigils. However, the event was banned last year, according to the government due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, thousands defied restrictions and gathered in Victoria Park like every year to commemorate the tragedy. Joshua Wong, one of the region’s most influential activists, was already sentenced to 17 and a half months in prison over the 2019 protests.

After the vigil, his sentence was extended for another ten months, which he will serve once his first sentence has expired. Wong, Chum and Yuen were also sentenced under the National Security Act, which opponents say seeks to silence dissenting voices.