A Hong Kong appeals court yesterday jailed three leaders of the territory’s pro-democracy “Umbrella movement” for six to eight months, dealing a blow to the youth-led push for universal suffrage and prompting accusations of political interference.
The jail terms are to curtail the political ambitions of the trio, disqualifying them from running for seats in the territory’s legislature for the next five years.
Joshua Wong (黃之鋒), 20, Alex Chow (周永康), 26, and Nathan Law (羅冠聰), 24, were sentenced last year to non-jail terms, including community service for unlawful assembly, but the Hong Kong Department of Justice applied for a review, seeking imprisonment.
Photo: AFP
Wong was jailed for six months, Chow for seven months and Law for eight months.
Law had been Hong Kong’s youngest-ever democratically elected legislator before he was stripped last month of his seat by a government-led lawsuit.
Wong, who was 17 when he became the face of the student-led democracy movement, punched his fist in the air as he left the courtroom and shouted: “Hong Kong people don’t give up.”
Minutes earlier he tweeted: “They can silence protests, remove us from the legislature and lock us up. But they will not win the hearts and minds of Hongkongers.”
Chow waved at his parents as he left the court. His mother broke down in tears.
The three judges in Hong Kong’s second-highest court, the Court of Appeal, wrote in their judgement that the three could not say they were sentenced for exercising freedom of assembly in a territory where many democrats see a gradual erosion of freedoms promised in 1997.
“In recent years, there’s been an unhealthy trend in Hong Kong society. Some people use the pursuit of ideals ... as an excuse to take illegal action,” the judgement said. “This case is a prime example of the aforementioned unhealthy trend.”
The former British colony, which has been governed under a “one country, two systems” formula since it was returned to Chinese rule in 1997, was rocked by nearly three months of mostly peaceful street occupations in late 2014, demanding Beijing grant the territory full democracy.
The “Umbrella movement” was triggered by Wong and his colleagues storming into a courtyard fronting the territory’s government headquarters.
They were later charged with participating in and inciting an unlawful assembly.
Just before sentencing, Wong told more than 100 supporters who thronged into the court lobby, some weeping, that he had no regrets.
“I hope Hong Kong people won’t give up,” he said. “Victory is ours. When we are released next year I hope we can see a Hong Kong that is full of hope. I want to see Hong Kong people not giving up. This is my last wish before I go to jail.”
The Department of Justice said in an earlier statement there was “absolutely no basis to imply any political motive.”
Critics disagreed.
“From the initial choice to prosecute these young democrats through today’s hearing, these cases have been shot through by politics, not law,” Human Rights Watch China director Sophie Richardson said in a statement. “That Hong Kong’s courts increasingly appear to operate as mainland courts do is clear evidence that ‘one country, two systems’ is on the ropes — with ominous consequences for all.”
Amnesty International also slammed the jail terms.
“The relentless and vindictive pursuit of student leaders using vague charges smacks of political payback by the authorities,” Amnesty International Hong Kong director Mabel Au (區美寶) said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS