By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, Dec. 3: Three prominent Hong Kong activists Joshua Wong, 24, Agnes Chow, 23, and Ivan Lam, 26, were jailed on Wednesday over an “unlawful anti-government rally” in June last year. Wong has been sentenced for more than 13 months while Chow and Lam were sentenced for 10 and 7 months respectively.
Britain’s Foreign Minister Dominic Raab urged Hong Kong and Beijing authorities to stop their crackdown to stifle the pro-democracy voices. The activists pleaded guilty to organizing and inciting an unlawful assembly near the city’s police headquarters during the demonstrations last year.
Wong later said through his lawyers, “Ahead of us is another challenging battleground. We’re now joining the battle in prison along with many brave protesters, less visible yet essential in the fight for democracy and freedom for Hong Kong.” The rally included thousands of protestors on June 21 that demanded the withdrawal of the controversial extradition bill.
Ahead of the court decision, the district court judge read out a letter from Wong’s mother who said that the 24-year old was a “a young person who cares about society and is persistent in his ideals”. US Senator Marsha Blackburn accused China of violating human rights and destroying any semblance of autonomy in Hong Kong. “Keep the faith, Joshua, you are truly an inspiration to freedom fighters everywhere,” the Senator said in a statement.
Amnesty International Asia-Pacific Regional Director Yamini Mishra condemned China for the sentencing, “By targeting well-known activists from Hong Kong’s largely leaderless protest movement, authorities are sending a warning to anyone who dares openly criticize the government that they could be next.”
All the three young activists are former members of the political group Demosisto which was disbanded hours after Beijing administration imposed the security law. The Hong Kong government has also recently expelled opposition lawmakers from the legislature for their pro-democracy stance, disqualified opposition candidates from running in elections and arrested more than 30 people under the security law.
