Jailed Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was among three democracy activists convicted on Thursday for their participation in a banned gathering in June 2020 to remember the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

Lai, 74, was found guilty on Thursday of inciting people to join the Tiananmen gathering. Barrister Chow Hang-tung and former journalist Gwyneth Ho were also convicted of taking part in the "unauthorized assembly." Prosecutors said Lai and Chow encouraged others to join the vigil, citing Chow’s call for people to “light candles," according to Amnesty International.

“The authorities have deemed the vigil ‘unlawful’ because the police did not approve it, but peaceful assembly does not need government approval," Amnesty International Deputy Secretary General Kyle Ward said. "These convictions merely underline the pattern of the Hong Kong authorities’ extreme efforts to exploit the law to press multiple trumped-up charges against prominent activists."

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The Tiananmen vigil the three activists participated in has been banned for the past two years, with COVID-19 allegedly being the reason for the ban. Lai, Chow, and Ho are facing multiple charges — some that could result in life imprisonment under the territory’s national security law. They are currently held in prolonged pretrial detention without bail, according to Amnesty International.

It is not the first time Lai, the founder of defunct newspaper Apple Daily, has gotten into trouble with the law. In April, he and six other prominent democracy activists were charged for their participation in an Aug. 18, 2019, protest against China over its assertion of more control over Hong Kong.

In February, Lai, who was in prison, was reportedly arrested again on charges of assisting one of 12 fugitives China captured at sea last year.

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In June of 1989, hundreds, possibly thousands, of people were killed in Tiananmen Square as troops opened fire on students and workers. The protesters had been peacefully calling for political and economic reforms since April. The exact body count from the event is unknown due to the Chinese government suppressing all discussion of it in the aftermath.