Jailed activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung has been sentenced to another 10 months by the District Court for taking part in the June 4 vigil at Victoria Park last year, which was banned for the first time in 30 years.
Three district councillors were sent to jail - Tsuen Wan's Lester Shum Ngo-fai for six months and Southern's Tiffany Yuen Ka-wai and Kwun Tong's Jannelle Rosalynne Leung for four months each.
All four pleaded guilty to taking part in an unauthorized assembly.
Wong is currently serving 17-and-a-half months for two convictions linked to the 2019 unrest. The 24-year-old will serve the extra 10 months after his current sentences end.
Tens of thousands showed up at the vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown despite the ban by police, who cited social distancing curbs.
For this year, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department refused to accept an application from vigil organizer Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China to use Victoria Park, again citing health concerns.
Handing down the sentence yesterday, District Court judge Stanley Chan Kwong-chi disagreed with the defense, saying the four had passive roles in the event. Wong and Shum were political figures and acted with political purpose, he added.
And Shum, Yuen and Leung took a picture at the park and uploaded it to social media, promoting their presence at the vigil, Chan said.
Hong Kong was roiled by social unrest in 2019 and the impact of the protests lingered last year, Chan said. And although the gathering was peaceful, the unauthorized assembly came with risks of violence which should not be ignored, especially for events held on a special day like June fourth.
The court also needed to deter others from committing the same offense, he added.
In mitigation, defense senior counsel Graham Harris said the case involved human rights and public health and it was the first case the court handled that related to illegal assembly being banned due to the pandemic.
Harris said the June 4 vigil has been peaceful and well-organized for many years and the four defendants did not act violently. The four also wore face masks and followed anti-epidemic measures.
But Chan said the only mitigation factor the court would accept was that the defendants had pleaded guilty and so he reduced one-third of their jail terms.
During the hearing, a middle-aged woman in the public gallery suddenly raised her hand and shouted: "Objection!"
Chan said he understood people's dissatisfaction with his decision. But they should not express their discontent inside the courtroom. He warned the woman she would be charged with contempt if she shouted again.
Activist Nathan Law Kwun-chung, who has been granted asylum in Britain, said Hong Kong courts have been "turned into weapons against the powerless."
"The court keeps increasing the length of imprisonment for protesters and sees it as a pathway for a society with fewer conflicts. It's wrong - the only way to achieve harmony is to hold the powerful accountable," he said.
The District Councils Ordinance says the three district councillors would lose their seats as they were convicted and jailed for more than three months.
But the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau earlier said it had no plans to hold a by-election for any vacant seats due to the pandemic.
wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com
