HONG KONG – Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wang was sentenced to two months in prison, while fellow activist Agnes Chou was given 10 months during a protest rally in Hong Kong last year, a recent blow to the political opposition. Chinese city.
Evan Lam, a third member of his disbanded political group, the Democrats, was sentenced to seven months in prison. While awaiting sentencing, the trio were jailed last week after pleading guilty to unauthorized assembly charges during a June 2019 demonstration, as thousands gathered outside police headquarters in the early days of a mass protest in the city. He was sentenced to three years in prison.
Democrats were disbanded shortly after China imposed a far-reaching national security law on Hong Kong this summer. Authorities have since launched a more aggressive crackdown on dissent, arresting activists, journalists and politicians. Four MLAs were also sacked last month following the mass resignation of a pro-democracy camp from a local MLA.
Mr Wong, 24, became known as the umbrella movement, which became a galvanizing force for massive protests in 2014 against the limit on direct elections. Ms. Chow, 23, who has been called the “mulan” of the Hong Kong democratic movement, is credited with his Japanese-language skills in Japan.
The working group Scholarism was co-founded in 2011 by Mr. Lam, 26, with Mr. Wong. The group, which joined a year after Ms. Chou, protested against plans to introduce a national education curriculum in Hong Kong’s schools, which they considered “brainwashing.” Mr Lam was jailed in 2014 for entering the legislature during a protest against the development plan.
After he was jailed last week, Mr Wong spent three days in solitary confinement because a scan indicated he may have ingested a foreign substance before his detention. During that time he had trouble sleeping because his cell lights were on 24 hours a day and he was receiving regular medical checkups, said Fernando Cheang, a former MLA who met with Mr. Wong on Saturday. No foreign objects were found, Mr Cheung added.
Mr Wong was sentenced in November 2014 to three months in prison for contempt of court in November 2014 for contempt of court. He was released on bail six days after the appeal, then returned to complete a short-term, two-month sentence in May 2019.
He also served a 69-day sentence of six months on an illegal assembly charge before being released, and the final appeal of a Hong Kong court was dropped in 2018.
Ms. Chow, who had not previously been incarcerated, said she was not adjusting well to the conditions of detention and could not sleep at night, sent a message to friends who visited her at the prison and posted it on her Facebook account on Sunday. .
“I understand that I will be sentenced to prison on Wednesday, so my morale is low, and I am very worried,” he was quoted as saying.
Ms. Chow was arrested earlier this year on suspicion of violating the new National Security Act by inciting separatism. But he is not charged in that case.
Mr Cheng said Mr Wong had found a positive thing about returning to detention: he no longer had to face constant questions about what lies ahead for Hong Kong’s beleaguered democracy movement.
“He doesn’t have to deal with this for now,” Mr Cheung said. “People understand that he is incapable of doing much in prison. Now the burden is on outsiders. ”
