Agnes Chow Released from Prison

Former Demosisto Agnes Chow released from prison today

A bit of good news this morning -- Agnes Chow Ting was released from prison after serving almost seven months for her role in a 15-hours siege of the Wan Chai police headquarters on June 21, 2019 during the anti-government protests.

At around 10am the 24-year-old emerged from Tai Lam Centre for Women in Tuen Mun and was mobbed by almost 100 reporters while a small group of supporters shouted, "Chow Ting add oil!" before getting into a white van.

There was a media frenzy of about 100 reporters 

Reporters noted Chow was much thinner than before and she admitted so in her Instagram post a few hours later.

"The pain that lasted for six months and 20 days has come to an end. What comes next is some good rest and recovery for the body. That's because my body has become really weak and slim during this period of time," she said, adding her comment should be read with a bitter smile.

She was originally jailed last December for 10 months for illegal assembly over the siege of the Wan Chai police headquarters on June 21, 2019. Her early release was due to her good behaviour. She was initially sent to Lo Wu Correctional Institution, but was later transferred to an isolation cell at the Tai Lam facility.

Chow pleaded guilty to charges of incitement and taking part in an unauthorized assembly. Her colleagues, Joshua Wong Chi-fung, 24, and Ivan Lam Long-yin, 26, were also imprisoned over the gathering. 

Chow, Lam, Wong convicted of illegal assembly

The only one among the trio without a previous criminal record, Chow burst into tears in the dock on learning the community service order her lawyers were seeking had been rejected. She has been in custody since entering her guilty plea on November 23.

However Chow is not completely free -- she was also charged under the national security law for colluding with foreign forces on the same day Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying was arrested for colluding with foreign forces by calling for sanctions.

So far the police have granted Chow bail and not yet charged her, they still have her passport.

Meanwhile this evening part of the city was crawling with police, with the second anniversary of June 12, 2019, when protesters surrounded the Legislative Council in a bid to prevent the second reading of the now withdrawn extradition bill.  

Protesters at Wan Chai police station June 21, 2019

At least 2,000 officers were on the streets, at one point blocking the Cross Harbour Tunnel to check cars heading to Hong Kong island, and and some even entered two shopping malls, one in Mongkok, the other in Causeway Bay.

Anniversaries will not be forgotten but at the same time the police show up in force creating more tension... never ending...

 

More Convictions for Illegal Rally

The October 1, 2019 march was not condoned by the police

Today 10 pro-democracy figures including Jimmy Lai Chee-ying were jailed for up to 18 months for organizing an illegal rally on National Day, October 1, 2019. They had pleaded guilty to the charge.

District Court Judge Amanda Woodcock was critical of the group, saying they consciously decided to break the law and challenge public order during a time of civil unrest, referring to the anti-government protests that year.

Figo Chan was sentenced to 18 months in prison

"They did call for a peaceful, rational and non-violent procession, but how naive and unrealistic was that considering what was happening on a daily basis was the opposite," Woodcock said, noting that Molotov cocktails were thrown along or near the procession route, and other acts of damage, arson and violence were captured on video that day.

Lai was handed a 14-month sentence, part of it to be served consecutively with his sentences in two other unauthorized protests, making it 20 months in jail.

Figo Chan Ho-wun, 25, is the convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front that organized many of the large-scale demonstrations in 2019. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison as Woodcock deemed him and three others to be most culpable because they held a press conference the night before National Day.

One of the defendants, former Democratic lawmaker Sin Chung-kai who was given a suspended sentence of 14 months, was disappointed to see his fellow activists jailed, calling the punishment "record-setting" and "unprecedented".

The march later led to violent clashes with police

"People should be aware of the consequences -- the court has changed," Sin said. "I think this is absolutely a setback for the democratic movement in Hong Kong and we have to rethink the overall strategies before we move forward."

The other convicted activists are former Democratic Party lawmakers Albert Ho Chun-yan and Yeung Sum; former Labour Party legislators Lee Cheuk-yan and Cyd Ho Sau-lan; former League of Social Democrats lawmaker "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung, and Avery Ng Man-yuen.

Another activist Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong also received a suspended sentence of 14 months for his passive role in the crime.

Leung's wife Chan Po-ying said he was convicted for the same offence in the 1990s and was fined only HK$500, and a few thousand dollars 10 years ago. Now Figo Chan, who has no previous convictions must spend almost two years in jail.

Sin Chung-kai had a suspended sentence

Samuel Chu, managing director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council, said the group was outraged by the sentences, which he labelled as an attempt to create maximum terror and deterrence in the lead-up to the anniversary of the June 4 Tiananmen Square crackdown. 

How much more bad news can people take? The insistence of Lai serving sentences consecutively instead of concurrently is very harsh. But the Department of Justice seems determined to punish him as much as possible, to punish the spirit of Hongkongers.

Repression of Defendants Continues

The Democratic Party's Wu Chi-wai during the 2019 protests

When it comes to breaching the national security law, or perhaps any law in Hong Kong these days, there is no mercy.

Former Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai has been remanded in custody since January pending trials but has yet to be convicted of any offenses. He is facing one count of conspiracy to subvert state power under the security law for his role in an unofficial primary election last July.

Wu is also facing criminal charges in two other cases, one of which is for unauthorized assembly on July 1, 2019, when there were mass protests against the now-abandoned extradition bill; it was the day that protesters stormed the Legislative Council.

Wu is not allowed to attend his father's funeral

He was originally granted bail, but was brought back to court in connection with that case after police discovered he had breached his bail conditions by failing to hand over his British National (Overseas) passport. His bail was revoked at West Kowloon Court.

And then late last month his 92-year-old father passed away while Wu was in jail, and the Correction Services Department is refusing to allow him to attend the funeral on Friday evening; the venue and time have been made public and there have been calls online to show up in support of the 58-year-old Wu. 

The department is concerned he could be a flight risk, or if lots of people show up it could affect security at the event, and that it had a duty to protect its staff and Wu.

While the Correctional Services Department has offered to let Wu watch the ceremony via a live video link, he has refused the arrangement, and so has his family.

Many are calling the prison authorities "inhumane" in their treatment of Wu.

Lawyers for Wu have filed an urgent bail application in a last ditch attempt to get him to attend his father's funeral.

People showed up last June 4 in illegal assembly

They had hoped the application would be heard on Thursday afternoon by Court of First Instance judge Esther Toh Lye-ping, but it was scheduled for Friday morning after the Department of Justice demanded more time to prepare for the case.

The application to be heard on Friday is likely to involve arguments on whether an accused person under the national security law can be granted bail under such a rare circumstance.

Meanwhile four activists were sentenced to between four and 10 months in jail today.

Officially it is for an illegal assembly, but in reality it is for lighting up candles in Victoria Park to remember the victims of the June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre.

Joshua Wong Chi-fung got 10 months, Lester Shum six months, and Tiffany Yuen Ka-wai, and Jannelle Rosalynne Leung each four months.

While they all pleaded guilty, District Court judge Stanley Chan said there was a potential for violence that night.

Wong (centre) handed a 10-month sentence

"With the 2019 unrest still lingering, the gathering of some 20,000 participants on a special night like June 4 meant emotions could run high, and unruly elements could take advantage of the situation and incite violence," Chan said.

Twenty-two other activists have also been charged over last year's vigil, including Nathan Law Kwun-chung and Sunny Cheung, both of whom have fled Hong Kong.

Wong will serve this sentence after he has finished serving his four-month sentence for taking part in an unauthorized assembly on October 5, 2019.

It seems the authorities are finding any way they can to charge and convict young people to keep them in jail... forever.