Joshua Wong, one of Hong Kong’s most well-known democracy advocates in recent years, was sentenced on Monday to three months in jail for a police officer’s data breach, according to a post on Wong’s Facebook page.
The 26-year-old gained notoriety in 2014 when, as a bespectacled youngster, he emerged as a leader of student-led democratic demonstrations that resulted in 79 days of road closures in the middle of the financial district.
According to the post, he was punished on Monday for violating a court order prohibiting the disclosure of private information regarding a police officer who fired shots during a demonstration in 2019.
According to a witness in court, Wong was present at the hearing but did not speak.
The court only gave an oral sentence on Monday, delaying the publication of a written decision. Wong’s attorney was unable for comment right away.
Wong spoke with lawmakers from the United States, Europe, and other countries to mobilise support for the pro-democracy movement in the former British colony. This earned him the anger of Beijing, which claims he is a “black hand” of foreign powers.
Due to his involvement in the 2014 demonstrations, often known as the Umbrella Movement because of the umbrellas protestors used to shield themselves from water cannon and tear gas, Wong was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018.
In accordance with a national security statute enforced by Beijing in 2020, Wong is one of 47 pro-democracy activists who have been accused of conspiring to conduct subversion for taking part in an illegal primary election that year.
Although Chinese and Hong Kong officials claim the legislation has provided calm to the semi-autonomous financial centre after months of sometimes violent demonstrations in 2019, Western nations have criticised it as a weapon to suppress dissent.
