Hong Kong pro-democracy leader Joshua Wong, 24, is jailed for another 10 months


Hong Kong pro-democracy leader Joshua Wong, 24, is jailed for another 10 months for attending a candlelit vigil on the anniversary of Tiananmen Square in defiance of Beijing’s orders

  • 24-year-old opposition leader marked the 31st anniversary of Beijing’s deadly repression by holding candles with thousands of others in Victoria Park last June 
  • They defied a police order which cited social unrest which rocked city in 2019 
  • Wong is currently serving 18 months for convictions linked to the 2019 protests 

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has been sentenced to another 10 months in prison for taking part in a Tienanmen Square vigil which infuriated Beijing.

The 24-year-old opposition leader marked the 31st anniversary of Beijing’s deadly repression by holding candles with thousands of others in Victoria Park last June. 

They defied a police order which cited the pandemic and the social unrest which had rocked the city throughout 2019. 

Wong, one of the most recognisable faces of Hong Kong’s democracy movement, is currently serving 18 months for convictions linked to the 2019 protests. 

On Thursday, Wong and three other activists Lester Shum, Tiffany Yuen and Janelle Leung, were jailed after pleading guilty to unlawful assembly charges last month. 

District Judge Stanley Chan told the group that they ‘openly defied the law’ and had been ‘wise’ to plead guilty.

Wong’s 10 month sentence was ordered to run consecutively following the competition of his current stretch.

He will have spent nearly two-and-half years in jail by the time he is released.

‘The sentence should deter people from offending and reoffending in the future,’ Chan said.

Shum, 27, was given six months while Yuen, 27, and Leung, 26, were both handed four months.

Wong, Shum and Yuen have also been charged under a new national security law Beijing imposed on the city last year. 

Ahead of Thursday’s sentencing they were being held in pre-trial detention and face up to life in prison if convicted under the new security law.

The other defendants – who include some of the city’s most prominent activists, many of them also jailed or in detention – will be tried later this summer.

The annual Tiananmen vigil remembering victims of the 1989 suppression of pro-democracy protests has taken on particular significance as many Hong Kongers chafe under Beijing’s increasingly authoritarian rule.

Crowds grew in size in recent years, often chanting slogans like ‘End one party rule’ and calling for democracy in China.

But it is unclear if Hong Kong will ever see another legal Tiananmen vigil.

Beijing has rolled out a sweeping crackdown against critics in the finance hub, with scores of opposition figures in detention, facing prosecution or fleeing overseas.

As well as the security law, a new campaign dubbed ‘patriots rule Hong Kong’ will ensure everyone standing for public office is vetted for political loyalty first.

Officials have already signalled that this year’s Tiananmen vigil will be refused permission both as a security risk and because of the coronavirus.

Some have also suggested that chanting ‘End one party rule’ – as well as the vigil itself – could now be illegal under the new law, which criminalises a wide array of acts deemed to be subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces.

Chow Hang-tung, a barrister and a member of the coalition that organises the annual vigil, criticised Thursday’s sentencing.

‘The court has failed to draw a line between what is really unlawful, that is violence activities and what is completely within our rights – peaceful assembly,’ she told reporters.

But Judge Chan said the four defendants’ attendance at the vigil was ‘deliberate, premeditated… and openly defied the law.’

Protests can only go ahead in Hong Kong with police permission, something that has been routinely denied since the 2019 protests and subsequent coronavirus outbreak.

Chow said Hong Kongers would still mark each Tiananmen anniversary, even if the traditional vigil is banned.

‘We will find a way to remember this and we will find a way to publicly do this,’ she said.

Advertisement

Leave a Reply