HK student leader sent back to jail
HONG KONG: Prominent Hong Kong student leader Joshua Wong was sent back to prison yesterday a er he lost an a empt to quash a jail sentence over his leadership of huge democracy protests five years ago.
Wong, 22, became one of the most recognisable faces of the ‘Umbrella Movement’ in 2014 which paralysed key intersections of the financial hub for more than two months.
Protesters were demanding a greater say in how the city is run, including the right for Hong Kongers to directly elect the city’s leader.
The movement failed to win any concessions from the city’s pro-Beijing authorities, and its leaders faced a slew of prosecutions.
Wong, who was 17 when the protests began, was jailed for three months in January 2018 on a contempt charge a er pleading guilty to obstructing the clearance of a major protest camp.
He served only six days of that sentence before being released on bail pending an appeal.
Yesterday, however, a senior judge said Wong must return to jail — albeit for a reduced sentence of two months.
Justice of Appeal Jeremy Poon said Wong’s age at the time of the offence was a mitigating factor, as well as his guilty plea and apology.
But he dismissed Wong’s argument that he had been excessively punished by authorities because of his prominent status as “entirely baseless and misconceived”.
Speaking to reporters before the verdict, Wong said he was facing the prospect of jail “with a calm mind”, noting that other leaders had received much longer sentences. – AFP