Joshua Wong sentenced to 10 months in jail for another unauthorized assembly, 3 fellow secessionists imprisoned up to half a year
Global Times
By Global Times Published: May 06, 2021 02:43 PM
Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung was sentenced to 10 months in jail for taking part in an unauthorized assembly on June 4, 2020. Three fellow secessionists were sentenced to between four and six months in the same case.
The four secessionists, Joshua Wong, and district councillors Lester Shum, Tiffany Yuen and Jannelle Leung had previously pleaded guilty to knowingly taking part in the gathering at Victoria Park on the day, which had not received permission by the authorities due to concerns over COVID-19.
The already imprisoned Wong, 24, was sentenced to 10 more months in jail, which was reduced from 15 months because of his guilty plea, Reuters reported on Thursday. Shum received six months, while Yuen and Leung received four months of imprisonment.
District Court judge Stanley Chan said there had been a potential risk of violence breaking out at the event, although it passed off peacefully, local media RTHK reported.
The judge dismissed the defence's argument that the defendants only played a passive role in the vigil, saying the four are political figures and had uploaded photos to social media showing they were taking part. The judge also said that there was a need to deter others from committing similar offences in the future.
In April, Wong was sentenced to four months in jail in another unauthorized assembly case after pleading guilty to taking part in the assembly on October 5, 2019. Earlier in December 2020, Wong was sentenced 13.5 months for organizing and inciting a separate unauthorized assembly on June 21, 2019.
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