Hong Kong: 10 months more of prison for Joshua Wong
Convicted of participating in the Tiananmen Vigil. Six months also to District Councilor Lester Shum; four months for Tiffany Yuen and Jannelle Leung. Wong is already serving a double sentence, and is awaiting a retrial for a crime against national security.
Hong Kong (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A district court yesterday sentenced democracy activist Joshua Wong to another 10 months in prison for having participated last June 4 in the vigil in memory of the Tiananmen massacre, banned for the first time by the authorities with the justification of the coronavirus pandemic.
In the same case, District Councillor Lester Shum received six months in prison; inflicted four months on her colleagues Tiffany Yuen and Jannelle Leung. The four convicts are among a group of democratic personalities - including the publishing magnate Jimmy Lai - on trial for organizing or taking part in the annual demonstration commemorating the killings in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989: on that occasion thousands of Chinese students were massacred for asking for freedom and democracy.
Judge Stanley Chan did not accept the argument of the defence lawyers that the four Democrats had a "passive role" during the event, which, like every year, took place peacefully. He stressed that everyone's sentence was reduced by one third thanks to their having pleaded guilty.
Wong is already serving a sentence of 13.5 months for taking part in a police station siege in 2019 and another four months for taking part in an unauthorized demonstration on 5 October 2019. He protested against the extradition bill (later withdrawn) and the ban on wearing masks during a public demonstration.
Together with Shum and Yuen, the young democratic leader also faces a trial for organizing or taking part in primary elections in July to select democrat candidates for the September parliamentary elections (later postponed). According to the authorities, if the Democrats compete in the elections to obtain a majority in the Legco (the local parliament) they will violate the law on national security.
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30/04/2021 11:02
21/06/2021 09:43
