Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong appeals against jail sentence as lawyer argues ‘punish him for what he did, not his status’
- Student leader was given three-month jail term for contempt of court during the 2014 Occupy protests
- Barrister seeks a non-custodial sentence that would allow Wong’s immediate release
Democracy activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung on Wednesday appealed to a Hong Kong court to have his three-month jail term for contempt of court during the 2014 Occupy protests quashed and replaced by a non-custodial sentence.
Student leader Wong, 22, was put behind bars in January 2018 after he admitted obstructing a court-ordered clearance of a key occupied site in Mong Kok during the 79-day protests for greater democracy in Hong Kong.
In appealing the sentence, counsel Lawrence Lok Ying-kam SC argued that Mr Justice Andrew Chan Hing-wai had failed to consider Wong’s age, and he complained that the jail term was out of line with the punishment handed down in similar situations.
Thirty-six men and women have been convicted of contempt of court for refusing to leave Mong Kok when bailiffs executed an injunction order secured by a local drivers’ group to reopen the roads.
Only four of them were jailed, however, and the others received suspended jail sentences of one to two months and a fine of between HK$10,000 and HK$15,000 (US$1,910).