Hong Kong court jails Joshua Wong and other activists over Tiananmen rally

A Hong Kong court has sentenced Joshua Wong and three other activists to between four and 10 months in prison for participating in an unauthorized rally last year to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. This is the first time prominent activists have been jailed over the peaceful candlelight vigil, which has been held annually in Hong Kong's Victoria Park since 1990. Police banned the event for the first time last year, citing coronavirus risks, but thousands staged a peaceful rally in the usual place.

Among the 26 charged over the rally, Wong and three district councilors -- Lester Shum, Tiffany Yuen and Jannelle Leung -- pleaded guilty and were sentenced Thursday. Other defendants are scheduled to appear in court in June, while two -- Nathan Law and Sunny Cheung -- had fled Hong Kong prior to the charges.

Wong received a 10-month sentence for his role in the June 4 rally, to run consecutively with a 17.5-month sentence he is serving over his role in two unauthorized assemblies during anti-government unrest in 2019. Shum was handed a six-month sentence, while Yuen and Leung each received four months.

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