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Joshua Wong had received prison threats of up to five years. A Hong Kong court has sentenced him to 13.5 months in prison. The prominent activist of the democracy movement was accused of organizing an unauthorized protest.
At the start of the trial just over a week ago, Wong pleaded guilty to organizing a demonstration in front of the police headquarters in Wan Chai District on June 21 of the previous year. His colleagues Ivan Lam and Agnes Chow also pleaded guilty.
Before the verdict, Wong had announced from pretrial detention that it was a misdemeanor. He and his colleagues are prepared to serve an immediate prison sentence. He hoped this would bring world attention to the Hong Kong judicial system, which Beijing was manipulating.
For Wong, it is the third prison sentence since he became involved in the democratic movement in Hong Kong. The 24-year-old had already organized protests as a teenager. After the “general protests” for more democracy that erupted in 2014, he had to spend several months in prison twice.
Worrying sign of restrictions on civil liberties
Observers had seen another worrying sign of massive restrictions on civil liberties by police and state authorities in Hong Kong.
In 2019 there were massive protests in Hong Kong against the growing influence of China for months. Protesters regularly went outside police headquarters to request an independent investigation into police violence against government opponents. More than 10,000 people were arrested during the protests. Since then, the Hong Kong authorities have stepped up their crackdown on the democracy movement.
Since June they can also resort to the so-called security law passed by Beijing. It allows the Hong Kong authorities to crack down on any activity they believe threatens China’s national security.
