Joshua Wong and fellow Occupy Hong Kong student leaders made to wait as top court reserves judgment on jail terms appeal
Lawyers for Joshua Wong Chi-fung, Nathan Law Kwun-chung and Alex Chow Yong-kang claimed their sentences were too harsh
The lawyers earlier that day told the court that lower appeal judges had erred in reinterpreting the facts concluded by the trial magistrate, who was lenient but did not impose a sentence out of range.
The Court of Final Appeal reserved judgment after hearing the ultimate appeal lodged by Wong, Nathan Law Kwun-chung and Alex Chow Yong-kang against their sentences, which were handed down to replace earlier non-custodial sentences after a government appeal.
Their bail was extended to the date of judgment.
The appeal, which also touched upon whether motives such as civil disobedience should be taken into account in sentencing, is expected to set a legal precedent in a city increasingly split by divided political views.
Further legal action against more than 700 Occupy protesters not ruled out by Hong Kong’s new chief prosecutor
If the five top justices – Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma Toa-li, and justices Roberto Ribeiro, Joseph Fok, Tang Kwok-ching and Leonard Hoffmann – rule against them, the trio would have to return to prison immediately to serve the rest of their sentences.