2024-03-16 14:42:11
Twelve Hong Kong activists who stormed parliament during pro-democracy protests in 2019 were sentenced to several years in prison on Saturday.
On July 1, 2019, hundreds of protesters broke into the Hong Kong parliament building. They had previously participated in a protest march against a bill allowing the extradition of arrested people to mainland China.
Demonstrators smashed glass and furniture, destroyed paintings and painted graffiti on walls in the parliamentary premises. Many of them then fled the scene, but the police later identified many of them.
On Saturday, 12 people were sentenced to terms ranging from more than four years to nearly seven years. Among those convicted is 45-year-old actor Gregory Wong, who was sentenced to six years and two months by the court. While some protest participants admitted guilt, Wong denied it.
“Whatever sentence the court gives me, I will continue. I will turn my fear into the power to change the course of things,” said political activist Owen Chow before the start of the court proceedings. He said the protesters felt the need to defend human rights. The court sent him to prison for more than five years.
Another political activist, Ventus Lau, left Hong Kong after the protests, but later returned despite the threat of prosecution. “I don’t want the public to think that all the people in our movement are only concerned about their own safety,” he said.
Since 2019, more than 10,200 people have been detained in Hong Kong in connection with anti-government protests. The protests were the largest faced by China’s ruling Communist Party since demonstrations in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989.
China, which took over Hong Kong from Britain in 1997, introduced a national security law in response to the demonstrations. Western governments criticize it as a tool for prosecuting pro-democracy activists and other opponents of the regime. Hong Kong and Chinese authorities say the law has restored Hong Kong’s stability.