Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Hong Kong yesterday in protest at the jailing of three pro-democracy activists last week.
Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow were initially given non-custodial sentences for their involvement in mass protests in 2014.
But on Thursday the court of appeal gave the activists jail terms of between six and eight months.
Their supporters say the process was politically motivated.
Yesterday, protesters braved sweltering temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius to march to the Court of Final Appeal, where all three men are expected to take their case.
They chanted “Release all political prisoners” while some carried a large banner reading: “It’s not a crime to fight against totalitarianism.”
“This shows that the Hong Kong government, the Chinese communist regime and the department of justice’s conspiracy to deter Hong Kong people from continuing to participate in politics and to protest using harsh laws and punishments has completely failed,” said protest organizer and former student leader Lester Shum, quoted by Reuters.
Lester Shum said the number of protesters was the highest since pro-democracy protests in 2014 that paralyzed parts of the financial hub for 79 days.
Another protester, retired teacher Jackson Wai, told AFP news agency: “These young people are our hope for the future. We shouldn’t treat them like this.”
Wong, 20, Law, 24 and Chow, 27, were convicted for unlawful assembly in an incident which helped to trigger the mass protests in Hong Kong, known as the Umbrella Movement.
They were among a group of student protesters who scaled a fence around Hong Kong’s legislative headquarters and occupied the building’s courtyard.
Their removal by police angered the public and brought tens of thousands of people on to the streets in the following days.
The three were sentenced last year to non-prison terms including community service but the justice department, seeking imprisonment, applied for a review.
The jail sentences effectively stop them from standing in forthcoming elections.
Anyone jailed for more than three months is disqualified from contesting local elections in Hong Kong for five years.
Law was elected to Hong Kong’s legislature last year, but was disqualified last month when the city’s high court ruled that he had improperly taken his oath.
Hong Kong’s last British governor, Chris Patten, spoke out against the decision to jail the three, writing in a letter to the Financial Times on Saturday:
“The names of Joshua Wong, Alex Chow and Nathan Law will be remembered long after the names of those who have persecuted them have been forgotten and swept into the ashcan of history.”
According to BBC, Amnesty International also criticized the authorities for seeking jail terms for the activists, calling it a “vindictive attack” on freedom of expression.
Protesters raise a placard reading “Shame on Rimsky” (Rimsky Yuen, secretary for Justice) and a poster with an image of Chinese President Xi Jinping as thousands of protesters match to support young activists Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow in downtown Hong Kong
In yesterday’s protests, some signs said “Shame on Rimsky”, referring to Justice Secretary Rimsky Yuen, who Reuters reported last week had overruled other legal officials who initially advised against pursuing jail terms for the three activists.
Wong and his colleagues triggered the 2014 mass street protests, which attracted hundreds of thousands at their peak, when they climbed into a courtyard fronting the city’s government headquarters.
They were sentenced last year to non-jail terms including community service for unlawful assembly, but the Department of Justice applied for a review, seeking imprisonment.
On Friday, Yuen denied any “political motive” in seeking jail for the trio.
The jail terms for Wong, Law and Chow disqualify them from running for the legislature for the next five years.
Lau Siu-lai, one of six legislators expelled from the city’s legislature this year over the manner in which she took her oath of office, said the sentences were unreasonably harsh.
“It appears to be political suppression to strip away young people’s right to stand in elections,” she said, as quoted by Reuters. MDT/Agencies
