Joshua Wong, two others jailed over unlawful rally in Hong Kong
Updated 18:37, 02-Dec-2020
CGTN
00:34

Activist Joshua Wong was jailed alongside two others on Wednesday for taking part in an unlawful rally outside the police headquarters last year, a court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) ruled on Wednesday.  

Magistrate Wong Sze-lai handed Wong 13.5 months in jail, Agnes Chow received 10 months, while Ivan Lam got seven months. 

"The defendants called on protesters to besiege the headquarters and chanted slogans that undermined the police force," the judge said. 

"Immediate imprisonment is the only appropriate option."  

The prosecution played several news video clips in court showing Wong and Lam inciting people to besiege the police headquarters during an unauthorized assembly on June 21, 2019. Chow was also involved.

The three are key leaders of political groups advocating for "Hong Kong independence" and have all been charged for similar reasons multiple times.

Wong had pleaded guilty to organizing and inciting an unlawful assembly near the city police headquarters during the height of the sometimes violent protest.  

Chow, who reportedly cried inside the courtroom on hearing her sentence, had pleaded guilty to incitement and participation in an unlawful protest, while Lam pleaded guilty to incitement.

Starting June last year, protests and sometimes riots sparked by a later-defunct fugitive bill plunged the city into a state of complete chaos. According to the HKSAR government's official estimate, in November 2019, a total of 10.5 million Hong Kong dollars were spent to fix or replace public facilities damaged by radical protesters.