Hong Kong’s highest court has granted bail to two prominent young democracy activists, Joshua Wong and Nathan Law, who were jailed for unlawful assembly linked to the city’s large-scale pro-democracy protests in 2014.
Hong Kong’s appeals court in August jailed Wong, Law and Alex Chow, leaders of the Chinese-ruled city’s democracy movement, dealing a blow to the youth-led push for universal suffrage and prompting accusations of political interference.
Hong Kong’s chief justice Geoffrey Ma, who heads the court of final appeal, granted Wong and Law bail while they appeal their six month and eight month jail terms respectively, saying there was no flight risk.
Local broadcaster RTHK reported that Ma required each man to post 50,000 Hong Kong dollars ($6,400) as bail, surrender their travel documents and report to police once a week. Their appeals will be heard on 7 November.
On emerging from the courthouse, a sombre Law said there had been “unpleasant times” in prison and that he was looking forward to a meal with his family.
Law said the result of the appeal case would depend on “the implementation of ‘one country, two systems’”, the semi-autonomous deal that guarantees Hong Kong rights unseen on the mainland.
China stands accused of trampling the arrangement, made when Britain handed back Hong Kong in 1997.
“I hope the result of the case showcases the protection of human rights in our law system,” Law told reporters.
Supporters outside punched the air at news of the pair’s release.
Wong’s father Roger, who has heavily criticised his son’s imprisonment, was at the court.
“We need them out here with us to fight these battles,” he said outside the court.Lawmaker Eddie Chu said their release on bail was “encouraging news for supporters of democracy”.
The imprisonment of Wong, Chow and Law for their roles in the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests triggered tens of thousands to demonstrate locally, as well as an international outcry.
Wong gained fame for his prominent role in the Hong Kong protests while still a teenager. Law was elected last year to the legislature, becoming the city’s youngest-ever lawmaker, and then was disqualified from office after a government legal challenge over irregularities in his oath.
Chow had not applied for bail.
Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
No comments:
Post a Comment