Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, Ivan Lam are sent to prison over Hong Kong democracy protest
The Chinese are crushing dissent in Hong Kong.
A court on Wednesday sentenced Hong Kong democracy activists Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam to between seven and 13˝ months in prison for organizing and taking part in an unauthorized protest, as China seeks to eradicate dissent in the city.
The activists, all in their 20s, had pleaded guilty to leading, inciting and participating in a protest around the Hong Kong police headquarters last year, during the early stages of what became the biggest uprising against Communist Party rule on Chinese soil since 1989.
It is the fourth stint in prison for Wong, 24, who as a teenager became a symbol of the former British colony’s democracy movement and its struggle to preserve its promised freedoms and autonomy from Beijing’s authoritarianism.
In delivering the sentence, magistrate judge Lily Wong said community service or a noncustodial penalty would be inappropriate for Lam and Joshua Wong, citing their criminal records — all relating to their political activism. The June 21, 2019, protest at police headquarters was “well planned,” the judge said, as she cited messages sent by Joshua Wong through the messaging app Telegram urging people to gather.