Nine leaders of the pro-democracy “Umbrella Movement” in Hong Kong were today facing years in jail after being convicted of public nuisance and other charges.
Retired professor Chan Kin-man, 59, law professor Benny Tai, 54, and Baptist minister Chu Yiu-ming, 74 — the so-called Occupy trio — led marches in 2014 demanding the right to elect their own leader in the former British colony.
Two current and one former politician, two student leaders and an activist were also convicted of similar charges. They are all facing jail time of up to seven years.
“No matter what happens today ... we will persist on and do not give up,” Mr Tai told reporters before the verdicts.
Hong Kong judges have been facing mounting pressure from Beijing to hand down heavier sentences to deter future protests.
High-profile student leader Joshua Wong, 22, was handed community service in 2016 for unlawful assembly, which was later upgraded to three months in jail. Hong Kong’s biggest popular protest in years saw tens of thousands lay siege to government headquarters and paralyse the financial district for 79 days.
It became known as the Umbrella Movement after protesters used umbrellas as shields when police fired tear gas to disperse them. Several hundred were arrested.
The movement fizzled without winning concessions from the Hong Kong government for free elections.
Today more than 100 supporters, some raising yellow umbrellas, gathered at the courthouse in the West Kowloon district to hear the verdicts.
Man-kei Tam, director of Amnesty International Hong Kong, called the court’s decision a “crushing blow for freedom of expression and peaceful protest” in Hong Kong.
Maya Wang, senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the courts could “embolden the government to prosecute more peaceful activists”.
Lord Patten, who was British governor of Hong Kong when the territory was handed over to Chinese rule in 1997, said it was “appallingly divisive to use anachronistic common law charges in a vengeful pursuit” of a five-year-old political protest.
The Occupy trio were found guilty of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. Mr Tai and Mr Chan were also found guilty of inciting others to cause a public nuisance. They were due back in court for sentencing this afternoon.
