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The
three, plus one ordered to go to a less-severe correction
facility, had pleaded guilty to various acts between October
2020 and June 2021, including giving speeches asking members of
the public to struggle against those in power, that were deemed
to violate a China-imposed national security law.
They had all been in the group "Student Politicism". Ex-convenor
Wong Yat-chin, 21, was sentenced to 36 months; Chan Chi-sum, 21,
to 34 months; and Jessica Chu, 19, to 30 months. Alice Wong, 20,
was ordered to serve up to three years at a facility called a
training centre.
Prosecutor Vincent Lee alleged the group had urged the public to
remember the popular protest slogan "Liberate Hong Kong,
Revolution of our times", which could mean separating the city
from China, and inciting secession.
The group was accused of calling on people to support 12 youths
arrested by the Chinese coastguard for trying to flee to Taiwan
by speedboat in 2020, and of not downloading a required
government COVID-19 contact tracing app.
"In terms of the effectiveness of incitement, I have noticed
that the street stands set up by the defendants are quite
popular," Kwok Wai-kin - a district court judge appointed by the
government to hear national security cases - wrote in the
judgment.
Kwok said in court that a letter written by Wong Yat-chin from
prison before sentencing had called upon people to take certain
actions, including "Breathe well, think well, live well,
continue to choose and insist on doing the right thing. Let's
walk the unfinished journey with our heads up."
The national security law punishes acts like subversion with up
to life in prison in the former British colony that returned to
Chinese rule in 1997.
Some western governments say the law has been used as a tool to
crack down on the financial hub's freedoms and autonomy. China
says the law has brought stability after prolonged pro-democracy
street protests in 2019.
(Reporting by James Pomfret and Jessie Pang in Hong Kong;
Editing by William Mallard)
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