Three young activists who led student protesters during the 2014 Occupy rallies were jailed today following a successful appeal against their previous sentences by the Hong Kong government.
Joshua Wong, ousted lawmaker Nathan Law, and Alex Chow were sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, eight months’ imprisonment, and seven months’ imprisonment respectively, in relation to a rally they held at government headquarters in September 2014 which triggered the mass Occupy protests.
As a result, all three have been barred from running for the Legislative Council for five years.
Last June, Wong, 20, and Chow, 26, were convicted of unlawful assembly, while Law, 24, was found guilty of inciting others to take part in an unlawful assembly. Wong and Law were sentenced to community service, which they have both completed, while Chow was handed a suspended prison sentence.
The judgment handed down by the Court of Appeal today said, “The court has a responsibility to send out a clear message to society, that in activities such as rallies, marches and protests, when rights are freely exercised, participants must abide by the law.”
Earlier this week, the same panel of Court of Appeal judges — Wally Yeung, Derek Pang, and Jeremy Poon — also increased the sentences for 13 other activists who protested the redevelopment of the Northeastern New Territories, 12 of whom will now serve jail terms of up to 13 months.
Demosisto, the political party led by Wong and Law, issued a public statement in which they condemned the sentences, calling the government’s efforts to “put peaceful protestors behind bars” an attempt to “mute all dissidents by abusing judicial procedures”.
“Demosisto is of the opinion that the students had exhausted every possible means within the establishment before resorting to civil disobedience as an attempt to engage in a dialogue with the government. It is a shame that the government responded to the demands for democracy with indifference and arrogance,” the statement read.
“We will keep calm and carry on with our principle of non-violence, standing hand in hand with Hong Kong people in the fight for democracy and freedom.”
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