‘Occupy Central’ activists jailed for contempt of court

Hong Kong’s High Court on Wednesday ordered imprisonment and fines for 16 protesters in the illegal “Occupy Central” movement in 2014, including student activist Joshua Wong Chifung, for refusing to obey a court order to clear the occupied areas.

They were sentenced to terms ranging from one month to four and a half months, with some fined HK$10,000 ($1,280) or HK$15,000, the court ordered. Wong was sentenced to an immediate jail term of three months.

High Court Judge Andrew Chan Hing-wai said he made the decision for Wong’s “leading role” in the incident.

This is Wong’s second “Occupy”-related jail sentence. In August, he was given six months in prison for leading more than 100 protesters to storm the government headquarters compound, which triggered the 79-day “Occupy Central” movement.

Before the sentencing, Wong was on bail with his appeal underway against the previous prison sentence along with two other student leaders — Nathan Law Kwunchung and Alex Chow Yongkang.

Another activist, Raphael Wong Ho-ming, who played a similar role as Joshua Wong during the incident, was given a jail sentence of four months and 15 days as he denied the charge during the hearing.

The judge also gave the other 14 demonstrators, including another student leader, Lester Shum Ngo-fai, suspended sentences ranging from one to two months. Some were also fined HK$10,000 or HK$15,000.

Those sentenced were among the 20 protesters arrested after refusing to leave a protest site in Mong Kok despite a court injunction during a clearance operation on Nov 26, 2014.

The 20 were all convicted of contempt of court last October and four were sentenced to one month suspended jail terms and each fined HK$10,000 last November.

Chan stressed that Hong Kong citizens’ right to protest is based on not infringing upon the rights of others.

“When the livelihood of our ordinary citizens had been adversely affected … the court had to intervene and protect not just the rights of the protesters but also the rights to live for the vast majority of the people,” Chan said when announcing the sentences.

By the time of the clearance operation, Chan said, it was obvious that the continued unlawful occupation “would affect no one except ordinary citizens of Hong Kong”.

“In the turmoil of any political movement, it is unfortunately always the poorest and the working class who suffer the most,” Chan added.