New sentence for Joshua Wong for reporting on 2019 protests repression

Hong Kong, April 17 (EFE).- A Hong Kong court sentenced prominent activist Joshua Wong to three months in prison Monday for violating a court ban on disclosing personal information about a police officer who shot a protester with his revolver during the 2019 anti-government protests.

Wong, already serving prison time for previous sentences related to protest movements, was accused of posting on Facebook a thread from an online forum revealing the details of an officer who fired three rounds of live ammunition.

A demonstrator was wounded by a bullet, provoking a strong public reaction at the most critical moment of the mobilizations that paralyzed the city four years ago.

The 25-year-old activist and former secretary general of the Hong Kong pro-democracy group Demosisto was a prominent figure in the 2014 pro-democracy protests in the semi-autonomous city, making his high profile a target for authorities in 2019.

Wong is also indicted along with 46 other prominent figures from the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong’s biggest trial so far under the controversial National Security Law, which could result in his life imprisonment.

In March 2021, the group was jointly charged with “conspiracy to commit subversion” in connection with an unofficial primary election held in July 2020 to help pro-democracy select candidates for Legislative Council elections.

The defendants, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, intended to achieve a majority to “abuse” their powers as legislators by vetoing the budget bills, in addition to paralyzing the functioning of the government and, ultimately, forcing the resignation of the then head of the Executive, Carrie Lam.

Authorities canceled those elections, and Beijing introduced new political legislation that strictly controlled who could stand in polls.

Hong Kong’s National Security Law, imposed by Beijing following the 2019 protests, carries penalties of up to life imprisonment for secession, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces. EFE

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