Leaders of Hong Kong pro-democracy protests sentenced

HONG KONG – A court in Hong Kong handed down prison sentences of up to 16 months Wednesday to eight leaders of massive 2014 pro-democracy protests after they were convicted earlier this month of public nuisance offenses.

One other defendant, Tanya Chan, had her sentencing Wednesday postponed because of the need to undergo surgery.

Occupy Central leaders, from left, Tanya Chan, Chan Kin-man and Lee Wing-tat chant before entering a court in Hong Kong, Wednesday, April 24, 2019. The court is preparing to sentence nine leaders of massive 2014 pro-democracy protests convicted last month of public nuisance offenses. The sentences to be handed down Wednesday are seen as an effort by the government of the semi-autonomous Chinese territory to draw a line under the protests. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

The sentences are seen as an effort by the government of the semi-autonomous Chinese territory to draw a line under the protests.

The charges carry potential sentences of up to seven years.

Three were given 16 months, one of them suspended for two years, two were given eight month sentences and two given suspended eight month sentences while another was ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.

It was not immediately clear if they planned to appeal.

“I am still peaceful and hopeful to face whatever may happen today,” law professor Benny Tai, who helped originate the protests, told reporters on arriving at the court.

Chan said she hadn’t lost faith in what the movement stood for.

“Although it’s an uphill battle, it’s not easy, it’s time for us to make sure that we are strong enough to face different kind of challenges,” Chan said.

The nine were leaders of the “Occupy Central” campaign, which was organized as a nonviolent sit-in that became known as the “Umbrella Movement” after a symbol of defiance against police adopted by the street protests.

Protesters demanded the right to freely nominate candidates for Hong Kong’s leader who would then be elected by all of the territory’s roughly 5 million voters.

However, they failed to win any concessions from the government and Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam was chosen in 2017 from among a slate of candidates approved by Beijing and elected by a 1,200- member pro-China electoral body.

Ranging in age from their 30s to 70s, the nine defendants span generations of Hong Kong citizens who have been agitating for full democracy. The defendants had all pleaded not guilty, calling the prosecutions politically motivated.

Hong Kong, a former British colony, was handed over to Chinese rule in 1997 under an agreement in which China promised the city could retain its own laws, economic system and civil rights for 50 years.

However, Chinese President and Communist Party leader Xi Jinping has been seen as extending his crackdown on civil liberties to Hong Kong, drawing criticism from commercial and legal associations as well as political, human rights and media groups. /gsg