Hong Kong pro-democracy activists accused for organising protests jailed for 16 months

Seven Hong Kong democracy activists were convicted to up to 16 months in prison for their participation in an unauthorised assembly during the 2019 anti-government protests. They had pled guilty to crimes such as organising and inciting people to participate in the illegal assembly on October 20, 2019, when tens of thousands marched to the streets and police shot tear gas and water cannon to disperse them.

17 pro-democracy activists jailed

Among the activists were Figo Chan, a former convenor of the now-defunct Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF); Raphael Wong and Avery Ng of the League of Social Democrats political party; and former legislators Cyd Ho, Yeung Sum, Albert Ho, and Leung Kwok-hung, known in Hong Kong as Long Hair. On Wednesday, the sentences varied from 11 months to 16 months. The other defendants, with the exception of Raphael Wong, were all serving jail terms in connection with other illegal assembly cases. 

In May, former Civil Human Rights Front convener Figo Chan was transported to a Hong Kong court for sentencing. A Hong Kong group behind large pro-democracy protests has dissolved in response to police pressure.

Restrictions were imposed in the interests of public safety, public order, and the protection of the rights and freedoms of others, she added, referring to the October 20 rally. The sentences are the most recent to be given out in connection with the sometimes violent protests that erupted in the global financial centre in 2019.

Activists jailed for 16 months in Hong Kong

The protests were sparked by Beijing's growing grip on the former British colony, which was promised vast freedoms when it was restored to Chinese rule in 1997. Last year, Beijing enacted a national security law that critics claim is intended to suppress dissent, a charge that authorities in both mainland China and Hong Kong deny. According to some democracy campaigners, the room for opposition voices is "shrinking."

Five members of a speech therapists' organisation were arrested last month for the printing of children's books about sheep attempting to keep wolves out of their village. The booklets, which allegedly attempted to teach the democracy movement to children, were suspected of containing seditious material. The dissolution of the CHRF and the teachers' union followed a series of articles in China's state media criticising the organisations.

Picture Credit: AP