Hong Kong - A Hong Kong appeals court
jailed three leaders of the Chinese-ruled city's democracy
movement for six to eight months on Thursday, dealing a blow to
the youth-led push for universal suffrage and prompting
accusations of political interference.
Joshua Wong, 20, Alex Chow, 26, and Nathan Law, 24, were
sentenced last year to non-jail terms including community
service for unlawful assembly, but the Department of Justice in
the former British colony applied for a review, seeking
imprisonment.
Wong was jailed for six months, Chow for seven months and
Law for eight months. Law had been the city's youngest ever
democratically elected legislator before he was stripped last
month of his seat by a government-led lawsuit.
The three appeared stern but calm as their sentences were
delivered by a panel of three judges. A lawyer involved in the
case, Jonathan Man, said they would appeal.
The jail terms disqualify them from running for the
financial hub's legislature for the next five years.
The bespectacled Wong, who was 17 when he became the face of
the student-led democracy movement, punched his fist in the air
as he left the court room and shouted: "Hong Kong people don't
give up."
Minutes earlier he Tweeted: "They can silence protests,
remove us from the legislature and lock us up. But they will not
win the hearts and minds of Hongkongers."
Chow waved at his parents as he left the court. His mother
broke down in tears.
About 100 supporters later swarmed the prison vans taking
the three away from court, shouting "shame on political
prosecution" and waving yellow umbrellas, a symbol of the city's
pro-democracy movement, a Reuters witness said. At least one
person was taken away by police.
The three judges in Hong Kong's second highest court, the
court of appeal, wrote in their judgment that the three could
not say they were jailed for exercising freedom of assembly in a
city where many democrats see a gradual erosion of freedoms
promised in 1997 when Britain handed the territory back to
China.
"In recent years, there's been an unhealthy trend in Hong
Kong society. Some people use the pursuit of ideals ... as an
excuse to take illegal action," Judge Wally Yeung wrote.
"This case is a prime example of the aforementioned
unhealthy trend."
RUBIO SLAMS "SHAMEFUL" JAIL TERMS
Hong Kong, which has been governed under a "one country, two
systems" formula since 1997, allowing freedoms not enjoyed on
the mainland, was rocked by nearly three months of mostly
peaceful street occupations in late 2014, demanding Beijing
grant the city full democracy.
The so-called Umbrella Movement civil disobedience movement,
which drew hundreds of thousands of protesters at its peak, was
triggered by Wong and his colleagues climbing into a courtyard
fronting the city's government headquarters.
They were later charged with participating in and inciting
an unlawful assembly.
Under the "two systems" formula, Hong Kong enjoys a free
judiciary, unlike on the mainland where the Communist Party
controls the courts which rarely challenge its decisions.
US Senator and one-time presidential hopeful Marco Rubio,
who heads the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, said
in a statement the "shameful" resentencing showed that "Hong
Kong's cherished autonomy is precipitously eroding".
"Beijing’s heavy hand is on display for all to see as they
attempt to crush the next generation of Hong Kong's
pro-democracy movement and undermine the 'one country, two
systems' arrangement," Rubio said.
"Joshua Wong, Nathan Law, Alex Chow, and other Umbrella
Movement protesters are pro-democracy champions worthy of
admiration, not criminals deserving jail time."
International human rights organizations also slammed the
jail terms.
"From the initial choice to prosecute these young democrats
through to today's hearing, these cases have been shot through
by politics, not law," China director at Human Rights Watch,
Sophie Richardson, said in a statement.
"That Hong Kong's courts increasingly appear to operate as
mainland courts do is clear evidence that 'one country, two
systems' is on the ropes - with ominous consequences for all,"
Amnesty International added its voice.
"The relentless and vindictive pursuit of student leaders
using vague charges smacks of political payback by the
authorities," said Mabel Au, Director of Amnesty International
Hong Kong.
The Department of Justice said in a statement it respected
the court's decision.
DISSENTING VIEWS
A senior government source who declined to be identified due
to the sensitivity of the matter said Hong Kong's top
prosecutors had initially "not recommended pursuing" the case
further" after the non-jail terms were handed down.
But Hong Kong's Secretary of Justice, Rimsky Yuen, overruled
them and insisted on re-opening Wong's case, a decision that
ultimately led to their imprisonment, the source said.
In response to emailed questions from Reuters to Yuen
seeking clarification, a spokesman for the Department of Justice
said it "does not comment on internal discussions regarding
individual cases".
"However, the DoJ (Department of Justice) reiterates that
all decisions were made in accordance with the Prosecution Code,
the applicable law and relevant evidence."
The DoJ said in an earlier statement there was "absolutely
no basis to imply any political motive".
In recent months, dozens of protesters, mostly young people,
have been jailed for their roles in various protests, including
a violent demonstration that the government called a riot in
early 2016.
Wong told Reuters on Wednesday that Hong Kong's democratic
movement was facing its "darkest era" and that he'd lost
confidence in the city's independent legal system, long
considered one of the best in Asia.
Just before sentencing, Wong told over a hundred supporters
who thronged into the court lobby, some weeping, that he had no
regrets.
"I hope Hong Kong people won't give up," he said. "Victory
is ours. When we are released next year I hope we can see a Hong
Kong that is full of hope. I want to see Hong Kong people not
giving up. This is my last wish before I go to jail."