What Happened:
The Pro-Democracy activist Joshua Wong will spend more than a year in jail over an unauthorised protest outside police headquarters in June last year Fellow activists Agnes Chow, 23, and Ivan Lam, 26, were sentenced to 10 months and seven months respectively. Wong said last week he expected to be jailed after admitting organising the event early on in Hong Kong’s recent protest movement, which began with millions marching against an extradition bill before growing into a broader pro-democracy push.
Verdict:
Wong had pleaded guilty to organising and incitement, Lam to incitement, and Chow to incitement and attending. Wong and Lam had initially intended to fight the charges, until announcing on the eve of the trial that they would plead guilty to some. Chow, who is also facing potential charges under the national security law after being arrested in August, had already decided to plead guilty in the hope of a lesser sentence.
More than 10,000 protesters have been arrested over Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests, many on questionable charges of rioting and unauthorized assembly that have not held up in court.