Three student leaders of Occupy Movement handed prison terms of six to eight months for storming government headquarters compound in 2014, with judge decrying incitement to break law to pursue ideals</s>Hong Kong (CNN) A Hong Kong court has jailed Joshua Wong and two other leaders of the 2014 "Umbrella Movement," three years after they helped organize the largest pro-democracy protests ever held in the city.

Wong, 20, was sentenced to eight months in prison Thursday, reduced to six months on account of previous community service, while fellow defendants Nathan Law, 24, and Alex Chow, 26, were sentenced to 10 months, reduced to eight, and eight months, reduced to seven, respectively.

Nathan Law (L), Joshua Wong (C) and Alex Chow, leaders of Hong Kong's 'Umbrella Movement', gesture as they address the media before their sentencing in Hong Kong on August 17, 2017.

After the verdict was read out the gallery fell silent, until the judge banged his gavel to end proceedings and supporters broke out into chants of "shame" and "political persecution."

The case marks a dramatic turnaround from 2014, when the trio helped bring out hundreds of thousands of people to the streets to call for a more direct form of democracy in the former British colony.

Wong, Law and Chow were initially given, and completed, community service sentences, but the Department of Justice appealed, arguing these were an insufficient deterrent.

Jonathan Man, the lawyer representing Law and Chow, said he wasn't surprised by the verdict but it was "very harsh."

He pointed out the three had already served community service sentences, and the prison terms represented a major increase in punishment.

Immediately following the verdict, Wong said on Twitter that the government "can lock up our bodies, but not our minds!"

"They can silence protests, remove us from the legislature and lock us up," he said. "But they will not win the hearts and minds of Hong Kongers."

Sophie Richardson, China director for Human Rights Watch, described the verdict as a "nakedly calculated political prosecution."

The events of 2014 led Wong to be dubbed the "face of protest" by Time Magazine, an image burnished by regular appearances in the international press.

In the city itself, there was a surge in optimism as hordes of young Hong Kongers, previously written off as apathetic about politics slept in the streets for weeks on end and clashed with police to demand their rights.

Based on the new requirements, officials sought to eject more lawmakers who had strayed from the standard text during their oaths -- despite a history of protests during the ceremony.

The jailing of Wong, Law and Chow represents a continuation of those efforts, suggested Antony Dapiran, a lawyer and author of "City of Protest: A recent history of dissent in Hong Kong."

"Recent events ... suggest that Beijing is doubling down on its attempts to crush dissent in Hong Kong," said Dapiran. "The future is looking a lot more bleak now than it was even just a few months ago."

Since being handed back to Chinese control in 1997, Hong Kong has been governed under the framework of "one country, two systems," an agreement, outlined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, that was intended to preserve the rule of law, freedom of speech and the right to protest until 2047.

Lawmaker Eddie Chu told local broadcaster RTHK earlier this week the government is "trying to raise the bar of political dissent to long term imprisonment in order to deter future actions by the citizens of Hong Kong."

In a statement, the Department of Justice dismissed accusations the case against Wong, Law and Chow was politically motivated, and argued they broke the law with "disorderly and intimidating behavior."

If Beijing was seeking to suppress dissent in Hong Kong, the tactic appeared to pay off in June this year, when mass protests expected to greet Chinese President Xi Jinping during his first official visit to the city failed to materialize.

In an editorial this week, the New York Times warned jailing the three would create Hong Kong's first "political prisoners."

In a statement, US Senator Marco Rubio, chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), denounced the "political prosecutions" of Wong and others as "further evidence 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."</s>The three Umbrella Movement leaders jailed Thursday in Hong Kong were at the forefront of the 2014 pro-democracy rallies which brought parts of Hong Kong to a standstill for months in an unprecedented rebuke to Beijing.

Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow were sentenced to six to eight months in prison for their role in a protest that sparked the mass demonstrations.

Rights groups and supporters called the case against them "political persecution" and their imprisonment comes as a fresh blow to forces pushing for political reform in the semi-autonomous city.

Here we look at the three activists' stories.

Scrawny, with gaunt features and a studious frown, the bespectacled 20-year-old activist is now one of Hong Kong's highest profile prisoners.

Wong was the unlikely hero who led a movement inspiring hundreds of thousands to call for fully free elections for Hong Kong in 2014.

Then just 17, he spearheaded the mass Umbrella Movement protests, which were a reaction to restrictions from Beijing on how Hong Kong's next leader would be chosen.

Wong captured the attention of the world as David against the Goliath of the Chinese Communist Party, and was hailed as one of the world's most influential figures by Time, Fortune and Foreign Policy magazines. He even became the subject of Netflix documentary "Teenager vs Superpower", released this year.

A student at the Open University of Hong Kong, Wong told AFP he was mentally prepared for a jail sentence and would continue to study behind bars, but felt "guilty and sorry" about what he had put his loved ones through.

Born to middle-class Christian parents Grace and Roger Wong, he began his life of activism aged 13 with a protest against plans for a high-speed rail link between Hong Kong and the mainland.

At the age of just 14, Wong campaigned successfully for Hong Kong to drop a pro-China "National Education" program, rallying a crowd of 120,000 to his cause.

Since the end of the Umbrella Movement, he has been denied entry into Malaysia and Thailand, attacked in the street, and abused by pro-China protesters in Taiwan. But he has said he will fight on.

In one of his last public speeches before his jailing, Wong declared: "I hope that nobody gives up hope on Hong Kong, we can still win."

Softly spoken 24-year-old Nathan Law often stood beside Wong as they addressed protest crowds camped out in Hong Kong during the Umbrella Movement.

The two went on to found pro-democracy party Demosisto, which campaigns for Hong Kong people to have the right to self-determination over their future sovereignty.

Law became the youngest lawmaker ever elected to Hong Kong's legislature last September after winning 50,000 public votes.

But in July, he was disqualified by Hong Kong's High Court for changing his oath of office during his swearing in to reflect his frustrations with Chinese authorities.

Law quoted Gandhi before taking his pledge, saying: "You will never imprison my mind", and used intonation to make his oath sound like a question.

He was barred after Beijing intervened to insist pledges were take in a "solemn and sincere" manner.

Born in mainland China to a working class family, Law moved to Hong Kong at the age of six where he thought of becoming a journalist or an actor.

But a lightbulb moment at a school assembly critical of the late Chinese Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo agitated him and set his course.

At university he became involved in student politics before he was catapulted into the spotlight in 2014.

Law captures the quieter moments of his life with pictures and videos of his cats on Instagram.

Along with Wong and Law, Chow, now 26, was also at the forefront of the mass protests in 2014, as one of the main organisers of the movement.

He was adamant that student protesters should not compromise on their demands for fully free elections.

Ultimately their calls for change fell on deaf ears as Hong Kong and Beijing authorities gave no concessions.

Chow spoke of the high pressure he was under from his parents, who he described as pro-establishment moderates, during the months-long movement and afterwards stepped out of the limelight to concentrate on his studies.

A day ahead of his jailing he told AFP he was not scared.

"When we are willing to sacrifice what we have, there is nothing to fear," he said.

Chow added that he had deferred his masters dissertation at the London School of Economics and planned to defer his enrolment into a doctorate programme in geography at the prestigious Berkeley university in California as he prepared for prison.</s>A Hong Kong court has jailed Joshua Wong and two other leaders of the 2014 “Umbrella Movement,” three years after they helped organize the largest pro-democracy protests ever held in the city.

Wong, 20, was sentenced to eight months in prison Thursday, reduced to six months on account of previous community service, while fellow defendants Nathan Law, 24, and Alex Chow, 26, were sentenced to 10 months, reduced to eight, and eight months, reduced to seven, respectively.

The case marks a dramatic turnaround from 2014, when the trio helped bring out hundreds of thousands of people to the streets to call for a more direct form of democracy in the former British colony.

Wong, Law and Chow were initially given, and completed, community service sentences, but the Department of Justice appealed, arguing these were an insufficient deterrent.

Jonathan Man, the lawyer representing Law and Chow, said he wasn’t surprised by the verdict but it was “very harsh.”

He pointed out the three had already served community service sentences, and the prison terms represented a major increase in punishment.

Immediately following the verdict, Wong said on Twitter that the government “can lock up our bodies, but not our minds!”

“They can silence protests, remove us from the legislature and lock us up,” he said. “But they will not win the hearts and minds of Hong Kongers.”

Sophie Richardson, China director for Human Rights Watch, described the verdict as a “nakedly calculated political prosecution.”

The events of 2014 led Wong to be dubbed the “face of protest” by Time Magazine, an image burnished by regular appearances in the international press.

In the city itself, there was a surge in optimism as hordes of young Hong Kongers, previously written off as apathetic about politics slept in the streets for weeks on end and clashed with police to demand their rights.

The aftermath of the protests saw many new political parties formed, led by young former protesters and advocating so-called “localist” ideas spanning the gamut of greater self-determination for Hong Kong to full independence from China — an idea Beijing has angrily opposed and called for it to be controlled.

September 2016 legislative elections saw record-level turnout, as votes “thumbed their noses at Beijing” and returned a raft of localist and localist-leaning politicians, including Law, then 23, the youngest-ever person elected to the city’s parliament.

But by late 2016, the sense of hope among the pro-democracy movement had begun to sour as the Hong Kong government moved to disqualify two pro-independence lawmakers who staged an anti-China protest while taking their oaths of office.

Beijing also weighed in, issuing a “reinterpretation” of Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, Basic Law, which ruled oaths must be taking “sincerely” and “solemnly.”

Based on the new requirements, officials sought to eject more lawmakers who had strayed from the standard text during their oaths — despite a history of protests during the ceremony.

The jailing of Wong, Law and Chow are a continuation of those efforts, suggested Antony Dapiran, a lawyer and author of “City of Protest: A recent history of dissent in Hong Kong.”

“Recent events … suggest that Beijing is doubling down on its attempts to crush dissent in Hong Kong,” said Dapiran. “The future is looking a lot more bleak now than it was even just a few months ago.”

Since being handed back to Chinese control in 1997, Hong Kong has been governed under the framework of “one country, two systems,” an agreement, outlined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, that was intended to preserve the rule of law, freedom of speech and the right to protest until 2047.

Lawmaker Eddie Chu told local broadcaster RTHK earlier this week the government is “trying to raise the bar of political dissent to long term imprisonment in order to deter future actions by the citizens of Hong Kong.”

In a statement, the Department of Justice dismissed accusations the case against Wong, Law and Chow was politically motivated, and argued they broke the law with “disorderly and intimidating behavior.”

If Beijing was seeking to suppress dissent in Hong Kong, the tactic appeared to pay off in June this year, when mass protests expected to greet Chinese President Xi Jinping during his first official visit to the city failed to materialize.

Those protesters who did attempt to reach Xi were attacked by counter demonstrators waving the Chinese flag and eventually bundled into police vans, unable to get anywhere near the Chinese leader.

An annual pro-democracy march on July 1 — when Hong Kong marked 20 years of Chinese rule — was able to go ahead, after Xi had already left the city.

Shortly after Xi’s visit, Law and four other pro-democracy lawmakers were disqualified. Following Thursday’s verdict, neither Law nor Wong will be able to stand in the by-elections to fill those seats, as anyone jailed for more than 3 months is banned from standing for office for five years.

In an editorial this week, the New York Times warned jailing the three would create Hong Kong’s first “political prisoners.”

In a statement, US Senator Marco Rubio, chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), denounced the “political prosecutions” of Wong and others as “further evidence 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 urged the Senate to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, a law he has been sponsoring which would allow the US to freeze assets and bar entry to those deemed responsible for “suppressing basic freedoms” in the city.</s>HONG KONG (AFP) - Joshua Wong and two other young leaders of Hong Kong’s huge Umbrella Movement rallies in 2014 were jailed on Thursday (Aug 17) for their role in the pro-democracy protests.

Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow were sentenced to six months, eight months and seven months, respectively, after the Court of Appeal upped their previous non-custodial sentences.

Activists say the case is more proof that Beijing is tightening its grip on the semi-autonomous city.

Wong shouted: “Hong Kong people, don’t give up!” as he was led away by security.

Hong Kong enjoys much greater freedoms than on the mainland, with its liberties enshrined in the handover agreement made when the city was given back to China by Britain in 1997.

But there are growing concerns Beijing is trampling the deal.

All three defendants were found guilty last year on unlawful assembly charges for storming a fenced-off government forecourt known as “Civic Square” as part of a protest calling for fully free leadership elections in September 2014.

Their arrests sparked wider rallies which exploded two days later when police fired tear gas on the crowds, triggering mass demonstrations that brought parts of Hong Kong to a standstill for more than two months in an unprecedented challenge to Beijing.

Wong and Law received community sentences and Chow a three-week suspended sentence at magistrates’ court last August over the Civic Square protest.

But Hong Kong’s justice department then sought to overturn those terms, with prosecutors arguing they should receive harsher punishment.

In emotional scenes before the judgement, tearful supporters hugged the three and chanted: “Shame on political persecution!”

Around 20 pro-Beijing supporters shouted back through loudspeakers, chanting “Pay the price in jail!”

Ahead of the judgement on Thursday, the department of justice said there was “absolutely no basis to imply any political motive” on its part in relation to the case.</s>Three young leaders of the democratic movement in Hong Kong were sentenced to prison for six to eight months on Thursday, Reuters reported. While 20-year-old Joshua Wong was jailed for six months, Nathan Law was given eight-months prison time and Alex Chow received seven months in prison.

The three were found guilty of unlawful assembly last year, after which they were sentenced to community service. However, the Hong Kong Department of Justice had applied for a review, arguing that the punishment was too lenient.

Wong, Law and Chow have also been barred from participating in local elections in the next five years. The order is a blow to the semi-autonomous city’s struggle for larger political freedom from China and suffrage.

Wong became a prominent face of the student-led democracy movement when he was 17, Reuters reported. Law, who had become Hong Kong’s youngest ever elected legislator, was sacked from his seat last month. Wong spearheaded the “Umbrella Movement”, gathering thousands of protestors, demanding democracy.

Following the verdict, Wong tweeted, “Imprisoning us will not extinguish Hongkonger’s desire for universal suffrage. We are stronger, more determined, and we will win.”</s>HONG KONG: Student activist Joshua Wong has been sentenced to six months’ jail for his role in the 2014 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

Also sentenced on Thursday (Aug 17) for unlawful assembly were former Umbrella Movement leaders Alex Chow and Nathan Law who were jailed seven months and eight months respectively.

Wong, 20, was the face of Hong Kong's months-long Occupy protests which brought parts of the city to a standstill, as demonstrators called for fully free leadership elections. 



Wong and Law received community sentences and Chow a three-week suspended sentence at magistrates' court last August. But the justice department appealed to overturn those terms and successfully sought jail sentences.



Remaining defiant after sentencing, Wong tweeted: "Imprisoning us will not extinguish Hongkongers' desire for universal suffrage."

"We want democracy in Hong Kong and we will not give up," he added. "See you soon."

Law, 24, was the youngest democratically elected lawmaker. However, he was expelled from office last month, after a court ruled that his oath of office, taken nearly a year ago, was invalid because he had added words and adopted a tone of voice that "disrespected" China as the sovereign power.</s>Three of the most visible leaders of Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement have been sentenced to jail time for their roles in the series of massive pro-democracy protests in 2014. The sentences announced Thursday, which range from six months to eight months, revise previous, lighter penalties handed down last year and effectively bar the men from holding office for the next five years.

Joshua Wong, the young man — just 17 at the time of the protests — who became the face of the movement, remained defiant as he was transported from the courtroom by law enforcement.

"They can silence protests, remove us from the legislature and lock us up. But they will not win the hearts and minds of Hongkongers," Wong tweeted. "You can lock up our bodies, but not our minds! We want democracy in Hong Kong. And we will not give up."

"See you soon," he added.

Wong, now 20, and fellow activist Nathan Law, 24, had been sentenced last year to community service for breaking into and occupying a space barred from public gatherings. That illegal act, "unlawful assembly," helped spark more than two months of protests against what many Hong Kongers saw as Beijing's encroachment on the semiautonomous city's politics.

Now, Wong and Law have been sentenced to six and eight months in prison, respectively. For his role in the 2014 protests, Alex Chow, whose age has been reported as 26 and 27, initially received a suspended prison sentence, which was revised upward on Thursday to seven months. They plan to appeal the verdict.

The judges who sentenced the trio of activists said the case demonstrates "an unhealthy trend in Hong Kong society," which was returned by the British to Chinese sovereignty two decades ago.

"Some people use the pursuit of ideals ... as an excuse to take illegal action," Judge Wally Yeung wrote, according to Reuters. "This case is a prime example of the aforementioned unhealthy trend."

But critics see the new sentences as an indication of China's undue influence over the Hong Kong judiciary — and as examples of another kind of unhealthy trend in the financial hub: Beijing's "vindictive attack on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly."

"The relentless and vindictive pursuit of student leaders using vague charges smacks of political payback by the authorities," Mabel Au, director of Amnesty International Hong Kong, said in a statement Thursday.

"The real danger to the rights of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in Hong Kong is the authorities' continued persecution of prominent democracy activists."

And many supporters of Wong and his two fellow activists agree. As the prison vans carried them away, a throng of people crowded around, jostling officials and chanting slogans in their defense.

"We're all Nathan Law! We're all Joshua Wong! We're all Alex Chow!" they shouted, according to a reporter with the South China Morning Post. "We want genuine universal suffrage!"</s>HONG KONG: Student activist Joshua Wong has been sentenced to six months’ jail over his role in the 2014 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

Wong, 20, was on Thursday (Aug 17) sentenced alongside former Umbrella Movement leaders Alex Chow and Nathan Law who were jailed seven months and eight months respectively.

Twenty-four-year-old Law, the youngest democratically elected lawmaker was expelled from office last month. This was after a court ruled that his oath of office, taken nearly a year ago, was invalid because he had added words and adopted a tone of voice that "disrespected" China as the sovereign power.

Wong remained defiant after sentencing. "Imprisoning us will not extinguish Hongkongers' desire for universal suffrage," he wrote in a Tweet.

Wong had originally been sentenced to 80 hours of community service for illegal assembly for his role in the 2014 Occupy protests, but prosecutors appealed and sought a jail term.</s>The Umbrella Movement protest cemented the then 17-year-old Wong’s role at the forefront of the democracy movement. Source: Shutterstock

PROMINENT Hong Kong student protest leader Joshua Wong says he is mentally prepared to face jail for his role in the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests that shook the former British Colony, local media reported.

On Thursday, the 20-year-old student took to Twitter to urge his supporters to “stay strong” as the appeal court decides whether to send him and two other activists to prison.

A day earlier, Wong told a radio programme he would likely face a similar fate to 13 protesters, who were jailed for between eight and 13 months by the Court of Appeal on Tuesday.

SEE ALSO: Hong Kong Democratic Party member says he was attacked by mainland agents

Prosecutors had appealed against the group’s original community service sentence from a lower court in 2016, according to the South China Morning Post.

The group of jailed students had stormed Legislative Council complex while protesting against a development project in Hong Kong’s northeastern New Territories in 2014, the SCMP reported.

“We did not think the sentences for the [protest over the] development project in northeastern New Territories would be more than a year as sentencing for similar cases was usually a fine, community service or three weeks to three months’ jail,” Wong was quoted as saying.

Hong Kong, which last month celebrated 20 years under Communist Party rule, was gridlocked by nearly three months of the Umbrella Movement’s street protests in 2014 that failed to convince Beijing to allow full democracy in densely populated city.

The protest cemented the then 17-year-old Wong’s role at the forefront of the democracy movement, which has been on a roller coaster over the past year. The ride peaked with young candidates being elected on to the local legislature, before crashing down with a series of government-initiated lawsuits that ended with several being stripped of their seats.

Wong, now 20, who was sentenced to 80 hours of community service for illegal assembly connected to the 2014 protests before prosecutors sought a jail term, said the legal challenges had hit morale hard.

“It is the darkest era of the Hong Kong democratic movement,” Wong said.

“Hong Kong is not Hong Kong anymore and now we’re suffering from a serious threat because I guess in the next few years there will be nearly a hundred youth activists who will be sent to prison.”

Hong Kong became a “special administrative region” of China in 1997, since when it has been governed under a “one country, two systems” formula that guarantees a range of freedoms not enjoyed on the Chinese mainland, including a direct vote for half of the 70-seat Legislative Council.

But activists say those freedoms have come under serious threat.

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.

SEE ALSO: Hong Kong: Tens of thousands gather for Tiananmen Square vigil

Many activists have condemned the Department of Justice for its pursuit of jail terms for activists who have only recently become adults.

Wong is due to be sentenced on Thursday alongside former student leader Alex Chow and Nathan Law, 24, the youngest ever democratically elected lawmaker. He was expelled from office last month after a court ruled his oath of office, taken nearly a year ago, was invalid because he added words and adopted a tone of voice that “disrespected” China as the sovereign power.

They face a maximum three years in jail.

“The outlandish application seeking jail time is not about public order but is instead a craven political move to keep the trio out of the Legislative Council, as well as deter future protests,” Human Rights Watch China director Sophie Richardson said in a statement.

Wong, who said he wanted to run for a seat in the Legislative Council and pursue a political career, could be banned from running for five years if he were to be jailed for more than three months.

**This article originally appeared on our sister site Study International
Hong Kong opposition activists Alex Chow, Joshua Wong, and Nathan Law are sentenced between six to eight months in prison and barred from holding office until 2022 as the Hong Kong government imposes harsher punishments on the individuals for their role in the Umbrella Movement.