HK activist in jail gets additional 10 months

2021-05-07 05:04:22 GMT2021-05-07 13:04:22(Beijing Time) Sina English

Jailed Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong was sentenced to 10 additional months in jail on Thursday for taking part in an unauthorized assembly.

Police had banned a vigil on June 4 last year citing coronavirus restrictions on group gatherings, but thousands defied authorities and proceeded to Victoria Park. The protesters were warned they were breaking the law.

Wong and three district councilors had pleaded guilty to knowingly taking part in an unauthorized assembly, and could have faced a maximum of five years in prison. Wong, 24, is already in jail after being convicted of illegal assembly in other protests and was sentenced to an additional 10 months in the district court on Thursday.

Judge Stanley Chan also sentenced councilors Lester Shum, Jannelle Leung and Tiffany Yuen to terms of between four and six months.

“Freedom of assembly is not unlimited,” Chan said. “The sentence should deter people from offending and reoffending in the future.”

Twenty other people face charges over the vigil but have not entered pleas. They are to appear in court on June 11.

Wong received a 13-1/2 month sentence in December over an anti-government rally on June 21, 2019 and a further four months over an unauthorized protest in October 2019 while also breaking a government law against wearing masks.

While in prison, Wong was arrested in January on suspicion of breaking the new security law by taking part in an unofficial vote to pick opposition candidates for a since-postponed election.

(Agencies)

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