HKFP: BREAKING: Hong Kong jails Joshua Wong and democracy activists over 2014 Umbrella Movement protests
The Court of Appeal has sentenced democracy activists Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow to prison over their involvement in a clash which sparked the 2014 pro-democracy Umbrella Movement protests. Wong received six months behind bars, Chow will serve seven months, whilst Law was handed an eight month prison term.
‘Craven political move’
As the jail terms exceed three months, the activists will be prevented from running in elections for public office – including the Legislative Council and District Council – for a period of five years. Law, who was recently disqualified as a lawmaker over his controversial oath-taking last year, will be barred from participating in the by-elections.
Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, said on Wednesday: “Hong Kong authorities should never have prosecuted these three student leaders for peaceful protests in the first place.”