Hong Kong, Apr 17. A Hong Kong court today sentenced prominent activist Joshua Wong to three months in jail for breaching a court ban on disclosing personal information about a police officer who shot a protester with his revolver during the 2019 anti-government protests.
Wong, who was already serving time in prison for previous sentences linked to protest movements, was accused of posting an online forum thread on Facebook that revealed details of an officer who fired three live ammunition into the residential area. the outskirts of Hong Kong.
A protester was shot and injured by police, prompting a strong public reaction at the most critical moment of the protests that paralyzed the city four years ago.
The 25-year-old activist and former general secretary of the Hong Kong pro-democracy group Demosisto was a leading figure in the 2014 pro-democracy protests in the semi-autonomous city, also putting his high profile in the sights of authorities. .in 2019.
Wong is also being charged along with 46 other prominent figures from the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong’s biggest trial to date under the controversial national security law, which could result in his life imprisonment.
In March 2021, the group was jointly charged with “conspiracy to commit subversion” in connection with an unofficial primary election held in July 2020 to help pro-democracies select candidates for the Legislative Council elections.
The defendants, according to the prosecution, intended to obtain a majority to “abuse” their powers as legislators by vetoing finance bills, in addition to paralyzing the functioning of the government and, ultimately , to force the resignation of the then head of the Executive, Carrie Lam.
Eventually, authorities canceled those elections, and Beijing introduced new political legislation that strictly controlled who could run at the polls.
Hong Kong’s national security law, imposed by Beijing following the 2019 protests, provides for penalties of up to life imprisonment for secession, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces. ECE
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