Leading figure in Hong Kong’s “Umbrella Movement” Joshua Wong was found guilty on Thursday of taking part in an unlawful assembly.
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A Hong Kong court on Thursday found teen protest leader Wong guilty of taking part in an illegal rally that sparked massive student-led pro-democracy protests two years ago.
Two fellow youth movement leaders, Alex Chow, 25, and Nathan Law, 23, were also convicted on various charges. Sentencing was adjourned until 15 August.
While police early in 2015 arrested a total of 48 people for their involvement in the pro-democracy protests, only Wong, Chow, Law and a dozen others have been prosecuted so far.
Law, who was found guilty of “inciting others to take part in an unlawful assembly”, said yesterday on Facebook, “If I could choose again, I would still take action that day without hesitation”.
Wong told a crowd of reporters that he disagreed with the outcome of the trial.
(Currently that official is vetted by Beijing and selected by a small electoral college.) The protest, which saw police respond with tear gas after some 200 students stormed a barricaded square outside Hong Kong’s main government offices, kicked off the movement that became known as the Umbrella Revolution.
Amnesty International Hong Kong Director Mabel Au said the verdict was a “blow to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in Hong Kong”.
Britain handed Hong Kong back to the Chinese government in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” scheme that allows Hong Kong a degree of autonomy from the mainland and envisages eventual “universal suffrage”.
Relations between the two have frayed in the year and a half since the end of the protests.
Fung and others believed there had been political interference in the appointment of the new council chairman.
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For almost three months, thousands of protesters filled the financial district and other parts of the city demanding democratic reforms in China’s most significant public demonstrations since the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
