Joshua Wong acknowledged guilt, may go for up to five years to prison

The Hong Kong pro-Democratic activist Joshua Wong said in court on Monday that he was guilty of organising and participating in a forbidden protest. He was immediately detained. On 2 December the judge will decide his fate. Wong could get five years in prison.

“Neither prison walls, nor the cancellation of elections, nor arbitrary laws can stop our activism,” said Wong prior to his trial of reporters. The activist also said he expected to be detained immediately after the admission of guilt.

“The authorities probably want us to go to jail forever. But this is not the time to fly to Beijing and surrender,” continued Wong.

Two other dissidents, Ivan Lam and Agnes Chow, also confessed on Monday. All three of them are being prosecuted for a protest that took place last year at the city police headquarters.

The Hong Kong activist was only seventeen years old when he became the face of the Umbrella Movement in 2014, which organised peaceful protests for months. Last year, protests were again held in the city, sometimes violent. Millions of people took to the streets to protest China’s influence on the city.

The now 24-year-old activist was imprisoned earlier because of his role in the pro-democratic movement. He was held for five weeks in 2019 for contempt of court.