HONG HONG: Hong Kong’s highest court freed pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong and Nathan Law on bail on Tuesday pending an appeal of their prison sentences after they were convicted of sparking massive protests in 2014.

In another development highlighting concerns about human rights in the city, the Chinese and Swedish governments confirmed the release of Gui Minhai, one of five Hong Kong booksellers belie­ved to have been abducted and spirited to mainland China for selling gossipy titles about elite Chinese politicians to Chinese readers.

Wong and Law were imprisoned after the justice secretary succeeded in getting an earlier, more lenient sentence overturned, raising concerns about political interference in the courts and dealing a setback to the movement for full democracy in the Chinese-controlled city.

Though the events were unrelated, they highlighted the widening rift between mainland China and semiautonomous Hong Kong.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2017