Pro-democracy activists plan National Day march amid calls to sack Occupy co-founder Benny Tai
Thousands of pro-establishment protesters gathered on Sunday to demand the sacking of the law scholar who co-founded the 2014 Occupy movement
Hong Kong’s pro-democracy bloc vowed to launch a black T-shirt march on National Day in protest over “political persecution” by the “authoritarian government”, while thousands of pro-establishment protesters gathered on Sunday to demand the sacking of a law scholar who co-founded the 2014 Occupy movement.
The divergent calls came weeks after the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the government’s bid to send 16 activists involved in two separate protests to jail, including three Occupy student leaders.
Another nine key leaders of the Occupy movement, including legal scholar Benny Tai Yiu-ting, is also set to face a pre-trial hearing on Tuesday.
Protesters who stormed Hong Kong’s Legislative Council given jail terms after prosecutors pushed for tougher sentences
Tai, alongside the other two co-founders of the movement, Dr Chan Kin-man and Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, face three charges relating to public nuisance over their roles in the civil disobedience movement.
“Hong Kong is getting more akin to Singapore, which is using the name of the rule of law to repress [the opposition] in a bid to uphold the dictatorship of the leaders,” Tai said at a public forum on Sunday. “Different political groups would launch a march on October 1 to oppose the authoritarian government ... We refuse to stay silent.”
Avery Ng Man-yuen, the chairman of the League of Social Democrats, also urged Hongkongers to join the upcoming black T-shirt protest in support of the jailed activists.