Chow, 41, was convicted of inciting subversion last week along with fellow activist Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, in a verdict condemned by the United Nations, rights groups and several countries for silencing free speech.

During a mitigation hearing on Friday, Chow, a barrister who is representing herself, told the court she rejected the verdict and would keep fighting for redress of the 1989 crackdown.

"If this means that I will continue to be seen as a criminal under the law... then I would rather be a criminal than be a hypocrite," she said.

Semi-autonomous former colonies Hong Kong and Macau used to be the only places on Chinese soil that permitted public vigils to mourn those who died on June 4, 1989, when authorities sent troops and tanks to crush protests in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square urging political reform.

Public commemoration has been effectively banned since Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong in 2020, following huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests the year before.

Chow, on trial alongside Lee and a third Hong Kong Alliance leader, argued on Friday that "the law cannot control anyone's thoughts... even if the court can lock the three of us up, it cannot lock up the calls for democracy."

The prison's "high walls will only serve as a bigger loudspeaker" for their message, she said.

Judge Alex Lee responded by asking dryly, "Then shouldn't you thank us?"

"Yes, thank the court very much," Chow replied, drawing chuckles from the courtroom.

The court ruled last week that the Hong Kong Alliance leaders had breached the Chinese constitution in their calls to "end one-party dictatorship" after Beijing imposed the security law.

Lee and Chow "intended to cause others to lose confidence" in the Chinese Communist Party, "stirring up hostility and causing division", the verdict said.

In Friday's mitigation hearing, Chow argued against any prison time at all.

Lee's lawyer Erik Shum argued for sentencing in the lower banding of five years or less, citing the activists' "peaceful, non-violent" advocacy.

The third defendant, 74-year-old former lawmaker Albert Ho, had pleaded guilty in January and appeared in court on Friday with eyes downcast.

A guilty plea typically results in a reduced sentence.

The court will hand down the sentence "within two weeks", the judge said.