Government fails in bid to jail Hong Kong protest leaders 'immediately'

2016-09-21

Hong Kong activists Nathan Law, Alex Chow and Joshua Wong hold a news conference after a court rejected the government's attempt to have the three former leaders of the 2014 pro-democracy protests sent to jail, Sept. 21, 2016. RFA

The Hong Kong government has failed in a bid to have three former student leaders of the 2014 pro-democracy protests sent to jail immediately, in a move which pan-democratic politicians said was the result of "huge" pressure from the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

The city's department of justice had requested that a magistrate in its Eastern district reconsider sentences handed down to Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow last month for their role in the occupation of a cordoned-off public space.

Prosecutors in the former British colony claimed that the only appropriate sentence was to jail the trio immediately.

But Eastern District Court magistrate June Cheung rejected the request, saying that the court had often handed down non-custodial terms in similar cases in the past.

Wong and Chow were convicted of "unlawful assembly" after they climbed into the fenced-off area outside government headquarters on the night of Sept. 26, 2014, at the start of a 79-day civil disobedience campaign for universal suffrage.

The original sentences still stand, and Wong will serve 80 hours of community service, while Chow will have a three-week prison term suspended for a year on condition of good behavior.

Law was ordered to perform 120 hours of community service after being convicted of inciting others to join in.

'Ridiculous behavior'

Joshua Wong told reporters after the decision was announced that the city still appears to have an independent judiciary.

"I think this definitely demonstrates that Hong Kong still enjoys the rule of law and judicial independence," he said.

But he criticized the administration of chief executive Leung Chun-ying for requesting the review in the first place.

"[The government] tried to use former trials of organized crime gang members to argue that three young people should be sent to jail immediately, and I think this is ridiculous behavior by ... the department of justice," he said.

Nathan Law, who now chairs the new political party Demosisto, and who won a seat in Hong Kong's Legislative Council in elections earlier this month, said the request for the review was likely politically motivated, suggesting heavy background influence from Beijing.

"The case made by the department of justice was really weak, and we have to ask ourselves whether it was made on the basis of a legal opinion, or as a result of political pressure put on them," Law said.

"I think the political pressure behind the scenes must be huge, if they have continued to pursue us for civil disobedience, even to the extent of getting this review," he said.

He said he hoped Hong Kong's judiciary would continue to be independent in future.

Intimidating dissenters

And Alex Chow, who is getting ready to study in the U.K., accused the department of justice of seeking to intimidate dissenting voices in Hong Kong, which was promised the continuation of its existing freedoms for 50 years under the terms of the 1997 handover to China.

"They are clearly carrying out a political agenda, which is to persecute people who opposed the government, people who called for universal suffrage," Chow said.

"It's clear that the department of justice is trying to send a message that anyone who dares to ... push for political reforms will be charged and sent to jail," he said.

"They wanted to frighten other people, especially young people and those who might take part in political movements ... by sending us to jail."

Hong Kong was promised a "high degree of autonomy" under the terms of its 1997 handover from Britain to China, but many fear the city's traditional freedoms may now be a thing of the past, as Beijing seeks to wield ever greater influence over the city's media, publishing, and political scene.

Calls for independence were rare in the city until the failure of the 2014 pro-democracy movement to overturn a decree from Beijing insisting that all electoral candidates for chief executive in 2017 be vetted by China's supporters.

Leaders of the 79-day civil disobedience movement rejected the Aug. 31, 2014 decree by the National People's Congress (NPC) as "fake universal suffrage."

A recent opinion survey showed that almost 40 percent of young people in Hong Kong favor independence for the city in 2047, when existing arrangements with China expire.

Reported by Lam Kwok-lap for RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

Link to original story on RFA website