Three HK democracy activists jailed up to seven years for rioting
HONG KONG: Three protesters from Hong Kong’s radical youth opposition were jailed yesterday for taking part in a violent unrest, receiving the harshest sentences handed down to democracy activists since the city returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Edward Leung, 27, one of the leaders of a movement advocating Hong Kong’s independence from China, was jailed for six years for rioting and assaulting police in a 2016 overnight protest that turned violent. He was found guilty of rioting by a jury and had pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer.
Two other activists, Lo Kin-man and Wong Ka-kui, were jailed 7 and 3.5 years respectively for rioting.
About 130 people, mostly police, were injured when masked protesters tossed bricks and set trash cans alight to vent their anger against what they saw as mainland Chinese encroachment on the city’s autonomy and freedoms. The government quickly labelled the overnight unrest a ‘riot’. Leung has supported Hong Kong’s outright secession from China given Beijing’s perceived erosion of the ‘one country two systems’ principle granting the city a high degree of autonomy since it was handed from British to Chinese rule in 1997.
It wasn’t immediately clear if he would appeal against the sentence.
Leung appeared calm upon hearing High Court Judge Anthea Pang announce the sentence, while murmurs of disbelief rippled through a crowd of about 150 activists and supporters watching a live broadcast outside the courtroom.
Pang condemned the ‘severe’ violence of the riot, which she said had caused ‘great danger’ to those at the scene, and which warranted the imposition of a strict deterrent sentence.
“The court absolutely does not allow livelihood or political disputes to be expressed through acts of violence,” she said.