Will the protest movement in Hong Kong be tamed by the jailing of Occupy trio?
The city’s pro-democracy forces received a shot in the arm when more than 22,000 protesters took to the streets two Sundays ago, galvanised by prison sentences handed down to three young activists. But disunity still plagues their ranks and the court rulings could deter many from taking up their cause, analysts say
Braving the scorching sun, tens of thousands of Hongkongers poured into the city’s busiest districts two Sundays ago, holding their umbrellas up high.
For that brief afternoon, it felt like Occupy all over again.
While yellow was the colour of choice back then and the umbrellas were there to thwart tear gas and pepper spray, this time they were out in all shades to beat the heat. Police estimated the turnout to be about 22,000, the largest since Occupy in 2014 – the mother of all protests in Hong Kong.
The blanket of bright brollies floating its way through the streets was just the morale booster that the pro-democracy movement needed three years after Occupy not only failed to achieve universal suffrage, but also now that it continues to extract a price from its participants.
Thousands decry jailing of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists in ‘biggest protest since Occupy’
Earlier that week, the courts jailed three young activists behind the Occupy demonstrations – Joshua Wong Chi-fung, Alex Chow Yong-kang and Nathan Law Kwun-chung – for six to eight months, sparking condemnation of their treatment and giving rise to the Sunday protest. Their jailing marked the government’s second successful bid to secure prison terms for activists involved in protests.
