Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and former secretary-general of Hong Kong People’s Volunteers Wong Chi-fung was sentenced to 13 and a half months in prison on Wednesday (December 2, 2020). Former Hong Kong People’s Volunteers Chairman Lam Long-yen and member Chow Ting were sentenced to 7 months and 10 months in prison respectively.
The three pro-democracy activists appeared before the West Kowloon Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday for inciting and participating in a rally on June 21 last year that besieged police headquarters and was not authorized by authorities.
Last week, they pleaded guilty in court to inciting and participating in the rally. Outside the courtroom, they all said they would continue to fight in the face of white terror under the National Security Law.
The Hong Kong government’s attempt last year to amend an extradition ordinance triggered a massive, months-long “anti-sentinel” demonstration.
On June 30 of this year, Beijing forcibly enforced the Hong Kong Law for the Protection of National Security on the grounds of safeguarding national security and the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong, which was widely condemned by the United States and the international community, and for which the United States suspended its special treatment of Hong Kong. Beijing rejects these accusations, insisting that Hong Kong affairs are purely China’s internal affairs and that no other country has the right to interfere.
Following Wednesday’s verdict, British Foreign Secretary Tony Raab urged authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing to stop suppressing the opposition, saying that the freedoms and rights of Hong Kong people must be upheld.
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