Ex-Bar Association head wants Hong Kong justice chief to clear the air on jailing of activist trio
Paul Shieh SC says Rimsky Yuen should elaborate on reasons for pushing ahead with sentence review that led to prison terms for protesters in order to remove doubts about move being politically motivated
A former Bar Association chairman has called on Hong Kong’s justice chief to explain why he insisted on a sentencing review that threw three leading student activists into jail, overturning previous lighter sentences.
The plea by Paul Shieh Wing-tai, after the ruling that had sparked a protest on Sunday, was viewed as a good but impractical idea by the Law Society. It warned that such a move could set a precedent and place further pressure on prosecutors if their internal discussions on future cases had to be made public.
Joshua Wong Chi-fung, Nathan Law Kwun-chung and Alex Chow Yong-kang were spared prison terms last August over their role in clashes at the government headquarters in 2014, but were jailed by the Court of Appeal for six to eight months after the sentencing review last Thursday. The decision prompted 22,000 people, according to police estimates, to take to the streets on Sunday in protest at what they called “political persecution”.
Accusations of political motivation in activist jailings ‘totally unfounded’, Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam says
Tuesday saw two of the three activists photographed in handcuffs and prison uniforms for the first time as they were transferred to separate institutions after five nights at Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre. Prison sources said Chow was taken to Pik Uk Prison near Sai Kung, while Law was sent to Tong Fuk Correctional Institution on Lantau.
Watch: Pro-democracy student leaders jailed for storming government buildings