HONG KONG: Twelve Hong Kongers were jailed on Saturday for up to seven years over the storming of the city’s legislature in 2019 at the height of pro-democracy protests that challenged the Beijing-backed government.

It was the most violent episode in the initial stage of the huge protests that upended the financial hub that year, with Beijing later imposing a sweeping national security law to snuff out dissent.

Hundreds of protesters broke into the legislature on the night of July 1, 2019, smashing windows and spraying graffiti on the 22nd anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover from Britain to China.

A total of 14 people were later charged with rioting — which carries a punishment of up to 10 years in jail — and other offences such as criminal damage and entering the legislative chamber.

Twelve of them were sentenced to between six-and-a-half and seven years in prison after being earlier convicted of rioting. The actual jail terms will be slightly shorter — ranging from 54 to 82 months — following reductions for various reasons, including guilty pleas.

Two former reporters charged alongside the 12 were not convicted of rioting, but were fined up to $190 for “entering or staying in the Legislative Council chamber”.

Deputy judge Li Chi-ho of the District Court on Saturday stressed the symbolic significance of the legislature storming and its “long-lasting effects” on society. “Aside from the actual damage to the building, it had a symbolic meaning.. (which was) challenging the Hong Kong government and even weakening its governance,” Li said.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2024