Hong Kong prosecutors urge appeal court to jail three Occupy activists

Lawyers argue that Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow were dealt with too leniently for storming government headquarters

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Activists (from left) Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow outside court on Wednesday. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 8:28pm, 9 Aug 2017Updated: 10:17pm, 9 Aug 2017

Prosecutors have asked an appeal court to jail student activists convicted of storming government headquarters two days before the start of the pro-democracy Occupy protests in 2014, saying the original lenient sentencing sent the wrong message.

It is the second time prosecutors have asked courts to jail Joshua Wong Chi-fung, secretary general of political party Demosisto, Nathan Law Kwun-chung, a disqualifed legislator of the same party, and former student union chief Alex Chow Yong-kang, who were convicted last year.

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Wong and Chow were found guilty of one count of illegal assembly. Wong got a community service and Chow received a suspended three-week jail term.

Law, who was recently stripped of his seat on the Legislative Council for insincerely taking his oath last year, was convicted of inciting others to assemble illegally and also given community service.

The offences related to the storming of Civic Square, an area outside the government headquarters in Admiralty popular with protesters.

The appeal could have implications for future cases as prosecutors called for a deterrent sentence for cases of illegal assembly involving violence.

CY Leung considered pardon for Occupy protesters and police, but says he cannot override legal proceedings

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