Three Hong Kong pro-democracy activists were remanded in custody by police on Monday after admitting to inciting an illegal assembly last year over the now-withdrawn Extradition Bill.
Former Demosisto leaders Agnes Chow, Joshua Wong and Ivan Lam were taken away to jail, where they will remain until a sentencing hearing on Dec 2, for their roles in a peaceful sit-in that escalated to a full-blown protest last year.
Thousands of people mobbed police headquarters in Wan Chai on July 21, 2019, in an effort to prevent the passage of the controversial law that would have made it easier for Hong Kong activists to be prosecuted in mainland China.
No one was injured in the hours-long siege that left hundreds of police personnel stranded, but the building’s security cameras were smashed and its walls defaced with graffiti and pummeled with raw eggs and rotten vegetables.
In addition to charges of incitement, Wong pled guilty to organizing the protest and Chow confessed to having taken part as well.
“In the past three weeks, a total of 23 activists, journalists and councillors [have been arrested],” Wong told the media. “Every day we have activists standing trial and protesters [being] sent to jail.”
Wong, 24, previously served time for his roles in the 2014 Occupy Central movement while Lam, 26, was given a suspended sentence last year for organizing a protest outside Hong Kong’s China Liaison Building in 2016.
This will be the first time Chow, 23, has spent a significant amount of time in jail but she urged Hong Kong people to continue to support the pro-democracy movement and called on the government to help the 12 protesters-cum-fugitives now jailed in Shenzhen.
In a final show of spirit, the trio shouted the popular Hong Kong protest refrain of “Add Oil!” as they were led from the courtroom.
