Source: NYT (8/15/16)
Hong Kong Protest Leaders Sentenced to Community Service
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By AUSTIN RAMZY and CHARLOTTE YANG
HONG KONG — Two Hong Kong activists were sentenced to community service on Monday and another was given a suspended jail term for their involvement in a demonstration that led to large pro-democracy street protests two years ago.
One of the activists, Joshua Wong, 19, the student leader who was convicted in July of unlawful assembly, was sentenced to 80 hours of community service.
Another, Nathan Law, 23, was sentenced to 120 hours of community service for inciting people to take part in the gathering. Mr. Wong was found not guilty of that charge.
The third, Alex Chow, 25, received a three-week jail term with a one-year suspension. The suspension means he probably will not serve jail time if he does not commit any crimes over the next year.
They had faced up to two years in prison, but lighter sentences were expected after the court ordered a report on their eligibility for community service.
The men said they had no regrets over their actions. “It is a long-term battle for us,” Mr. Wong said. The sentence “will not affect my persistence and my courage in the social movement,” he added.
Their gathering, on Sept. 26, 2014, escalated into larger demonstrationsafter the police tried to remove protesters from a courtyard in a main government office complex. Thousands more people turned out, occupying a nearby road and several other streets around the city in what became known as the Umbrella Movement.
Protesters camped on the streets in an unsuccessful effort to push for more freedom in nominating candidates for this semiautonomous Chinese city’s top political office, the chief executive, and to call for the current chief executive to step down.
While they abandoned their sit-in 79 days later, several of the protesters have since moved into politics. Mr. Wong, made famous by his role as a leader of the protests, formed a party with Mr. Law, who is running for a Legislative Council seat in elections in September.
Mr. Law’s candidacy was at risk of invalidation if he was in prison at the time of the election, but the sentence of community service means he can still run.
Their party, Demosisto, has called for a referendum on the future of Hong Kong’s relationship with China. Calls for greater autonomy or independence for the city have increased in the two years since the protests.
Hong Kong is a former British colony returned to Chinese control in 1997, and for 50 years, it is entitled to maintain its own legal and economic system, including strong protections for civil rights not enjoyed by people in mainland China. But many residents fear that the “one country, two systems” model is eroding under influence from Beijing.
The authorities in Hong Kong have said that Legislative Council members are barred from supporting independence under the Basic Law, which declares that the territory is an “inalienable part” of China. Election officers have disqualified at least five candidates from running for legislative office over questions on their beliefs about the city’s future. Those candidates have called the move an unfair impingement on political freedoms.
Although surveys indicate that most Hong Kong residents do not support independence for the city, analysts say that the government’s efforts to restrict advocacy of that view could increase its popularity.