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Two different activists, Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam, have been sentenced to 10 months and 7 months in prison respectively over the protest on June 21, 2019. Chow confronted expenses relating to inciting and collaborating in the protest, whereas Lam was charged with inciting the protest.
The trio — all former members of the disbanded political celebration Demosisto — had been remanded in custody since November 23, and have been transferred from prison to court docket to hear their sentences. Hundreds of supporters turned out on the West Kowloon Magistrates Court Wednesday, in addition to a small variety of pro-China demonstrators.
Wong’s lawyer, Jonathan Man, mentioned his consumer “was suffering during the period of solitary confinement,” which he mentioned ended final Thursday. Man added that whereas Lam was “okay,” 23-year-old Chow was struggling in prison, as “it is the first time she was remanded and (she) was not used to the environment.”
In a letter posted to Chow’s social media accounts prior to Wednesday’s sentencing, she wrote that she was having hassle sleeping and was feeling “under the weather.” Chow added that she was “very worried” concerning the “high possibility” of her receiving a jail time period. “I hope that everyone outside the prison walls are doing well,” she mentioned.
In the sentencing doc, the court docket mentioned that “deterrent sentences are warranted to safeguard public interests.”
“Once again, the government has used the politically motivated charge of ‘inciting others to protest’ to prosecute people who have merely spoken out and protested peacefully,” Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific regional director Yamini Mishra mentioned in a press release.
“By targeting well-known activists from Hong Kong’s largely leaderless protest movement, authorities are sending a warning to anyone who dares openly criticize the government that they could be next.”
Mishra added that “even in protests where isolated acts of violence took place and public property was damaged, these should not be attributed to others or the organizers, or to the assembly in general.”
Political prosecutions
Wednesday’s sentencing was the most recent associated to the 2019 protests. About 2,000 individuals have confronted expenses equivalent to rioting, unlawful meeting and possession of weapons.
Wong himself faces different expenses over a rally in October final yr, and police have mentioned investigations into the unrest are persevering with.
The transfer got here the identical week because the US State Department sanctioned quite a lot of prime Chinese officers in Hong Kong for “threatening the peace, security, and autonomy” of town, a transfer the native authorities described as “barbaric interference.”
Other international locations have additionally criticized China over the continued crackdown, with the European Council saying the transfer to disqualify opposition lawmakers constituted a “further severe blow” to freedom of opinion in town and “significantly undermines Hong Kong’s autonomy.”
Some in Hong Kong have reacted to the worsening political system by emigrating — or in the case of these going through prosecution, fleeing overseas.
“In your role as Chief Executive, it is incumbent on you to intercede on behalf of these young people to ensure that they are guaranteed justice,” the lawmakers wrote, expressing concern a few justice system “where imprisonment is essentially guaranteed, torture is common and forced confessions are frequently demanded of suspects.”
“To continue to fail to do so would be a gross abdication of your responsibility to serve the people of Hong Kong and ensure their wellbeing and safety,” the letter added.
CNN’s Jadyn Sham contributed reporting.
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