Activists plead guilty over protest
HONG KONG — Prominent Hong Kong prodemocracy campaigner Joshua Wong and two other activists were taken into custody Monday after they pleaded guilty to charges related to a demonstration outside police headquarters during antigovernment protests last year.
Wong, together with Ivan Lam and Agnes Chow, pleaded guilty to charges related to organizing, taking part in and inciting protesters to join an unauthorized demonstration outside police headquarters last June. The three were members of the nowdisbanded Demosisto political party.
They were remanded in custody at a court hearing Monday, and the three are expected to be sentenced on Dec. 2. Those found guilty of taking part in an unlawful assembly could face as long as five years in prison.
“I am persuaded that neither prison bars, nor election ban, nor any other arbitrary powers would stop us from activism,” Wong said ahead of the hearing. “What we are doing now is to explain the value of freedom to the world.”
Wong rose to prominence as a student leader during the 2014 Umbrella Movement prodemocracy protests and is among a growing number of activists being charged with relatively minor offenses since Beijing in June imposed a sweeping national security law on the territory that has severely restricted political speech.
Prodemocracy supporters have said the legal charges are part of a campaign to harass and intimidate them.
Wong wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday that he and Lam had decided to plead guilty after consulting with their lawyers. The two previously pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Chow had already pleaded guilty to charges of inciting others and taking part in the protest.
“Although I am mentally prepared, I still feel a little bit scared,” Chow wrote on her Facebook page Sunday. “However, compared to many friends, I have suffered very little. When I think of this, I will try my best to face it bravely.”
On June 21 last year, thousands rallied outside the police headquarters to protest what they said was excessive police force against demonstrators.