Hong Kong court rejects appeal bids by two jailed Occupy activists Nathan Law and Alex Chow
Court of Appeal says pair failed to present arguable case to show its three judges erred by jailing them
A Hong Kong court has rejected appeals by two young democracy activists against jail terms handed down for their roles in an illegal protest.
The Court of Appeal on Thursday dismissed applications by Nathan Law Kwun-chung, 24, and Alex Chow Yong-kang, 27, for a certificate to the Court of Final Appeal after finding they had failed to show its three judges erred in replacing their non-custodial sentences with jail terms, as sought by the government.
Under Hong Kong law, leave to appeal to the city’s top court can only be granted if the lower Court of Appeal certifies that a point of law of great and general importance was involved in the decision, or when it is shown that substantial and grave injustice has been done.
Although Law and Chow failed to convince the Court of Appeal on Thursday, they have also taken a separate route along with co-defendant Joshua Wong Chi-fung, 21, to appeal directly to the Court of Final Appeal on the grounds that substantial and grave injustice has been done.
A hearing for that argument has already been scheduled for November 7 by Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma Tao-li, who released Wong and Law on bail on Tuesday pending the appeal.
