- Wong is currently in jail for his roles in two anti-government protests in 2019 and was originally slated to be released in November
- District councillors Lester Shum, Tiffany Yuen and Jannelle Rosalynne Leung were also sentenced for taking part in the June 4 event in Victoria Park
Chow Hang-tung, Vice-Chairwoman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, speaks to the press after the sentencing of Joshua Wong, Lester Shum, Tiffany Yuen Ka- wai and Jannelle Rosalynne Leung. Photo: SCMP / K.Y. ChengPro-democracy activist Joshua Wong was sentenced to 10 months’ jail on Thursday for taking part in an unauthorised vigil last year commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
Wong, 24, is currently behind bars for his roles in two anti-government protests in 2019, sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill. He was originally slated for release in November, before he was handed the latest jail term, which will run afterwards.
Three district councillors – Lester Shum, 27, Tiffany Yuen Ka-wai, 27, and Jannelle Rosalynne Leung, 26 – were also sentenced for their roles in the June 4 event in Victoria Park, with Shum receiving six months, and Yuen and Leung getting four months each.
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The four pleaded guilty last week to knowingly taking part in an unauthorised assembly, an offence punishable by five years in prison.
District Judge Stanley Chan Kwong-chi said it was clear the defendants’ actions had been “deliberate and premeditated”, at a time when Hong Kong’s public order situation remained volatile in the aftermath of the unprecedented social turmoil of 2019.
“[The four defendants] openly defied the law,” Chan said. “The only mitigating factor is their guilty plea.”
The annual vigil at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay was banned in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: SCMP/Sam Tsang
Outside court, Chow Hang-tung, vice-chairwoman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which organises the annual vigil, said they were very disappointed with the ruling.
“It failed to respect our right to freedom of assembly, and it failed to draw any distinction at all between peaceful assembly and violent assembly,” Chow said. “The court seems to feel that any expression of political dissent is something that should be suppressed and subjected to deterrent sentences. I think this is wrong.”
Chow added that they were still planning to hold a vigil this year and had applied for a letter of no objection from the police. They have not yet heard back.
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Wong, Shum and Yuen have been denied bail after they were charged with subversion under the national security law, alongside 44 other opposition figures, over an unofficial primary election for the Legislative Council last summer.
Their 20 co-defendants in the vigil case, including media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, have not yet entered pleas.
Two other defendants, Nathan Law Kwun-chung and activist Sunny Cheung Kwan-yang, have fled the city and are wanted by police.