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HONG KONG: Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow was denied bail on Wednesday (December 9) pending an appeal against her 10-month jail sentence on charges related to an unauthorized assembly during protests against the government last year.
The 24-year-old activist was jailed on December 2 along with Joshua Wong for their role in an illegal demonstration near the police headquarters in 2019, the harshest and highest-profile sentence of opposition figures this year.
Chow’s hearing came after around 16 activists were arrested since Monday, as part of a relentless crackdown on opposition forces in the Chinese-ruled city.
READ: Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong jailed for 13 and a half months for 2019 anti-government protest
Critics say the Beijing-backed Hong Kong government is restricting opposition and the wide-ranging freedoms guaranteed after the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997, a charge that authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong reject.
Chow, along with Wong and Nathan Law, founded the now-dissolved democratic group Demosisto in 2016. The party dissolved hours after Beijing passed a controversial national security law for the city on June 30 amid fears that it could be target of the legislation.
READ: Timeline: The Impact of National Security Law in Hong Kong
READ: Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong arrested for illegal gathering
Chow was also arrested in August under new security legislation on suspicion of “collusion with foreign forces,” but has yet to face charges.
Under national security law, Beijing punishes what it broadly defines as sedition, secession, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison.
