Three of the most visible leaders of Hong Kong' s Umbrella Movement have been sentenced to jail time for their roles in the series of massive pro
Three of the most visible leaders of Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement have been sentenced to jail time for their roles in the series of massive pro-democracy protests in 2014. The sentences announced Thursday, which range from six months to eight months, revise previous, lighter penalties handed down last year and effectively bar the men from holding office for the next five years.
Joshua Wong, the young man — just 17 at the time of the protests — who became the face of the movement, remained defiant as he was transported from the courtroom by law enforcement.
« They can silence protests, remove us from the legislature and lock us up. But they will not win the hearts and minds of Hongkongers, » Wong tweeted. « You can lock up our bodies, but not our minds! We want democracy in Hong Kong. And we will not give up. »
« See you soon, » he added .
Wong, now 20, and fellow activist Nathan Law, 24, had been sentenced last year to community service for breaking into and occupying a space barred from public gatherings. That illegal act, « unlawful assembly, » helped spark more than two months of protests against what many Hong Kongers saw as Beijing’s encroachment on the semiautonomous city’s politics.
