Hong Kong: activist Joshua Wong remains free for the time being

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Joshua Wong

Photo: Kin Cheung / dpa

Joshua Wong remains at large after his temporary arrest last week.

A Hong Kong court ruled on Wednesday that the well-known activist and another supporter of the democracy movement do not have to go to jail on bail.

The trial was adjourned to December 18.

According to the requirements, Wong is not allowed to leave Hong Kong until then.

The 23-year-old is one of the most famous faces of the Hong Kong democracy movement, he organized protests as a teenager.

Wong and other supporters had already been sentenced to several months in prison three years ago in connection with the "umbrella protests" that broke out in 2014 for more democracy.

The background to the recent arrest is said to have been the participation in an unauthorized meeting on October 5, 2019.

The mass demonstrations and sit-in blocks paralyzed the city center for days.

Last year, significantly larger protests broke out against Beijing's increasing influence, with repeated clashes between the police and demonstrators.

China then passed a so-called security law for Hong Kong at the end of June.

It is directed against activities that China sees as subversive, separatist or terrorist.

It is the most extensive encroachment on Hong Kong's autonomy to date and gives China's state security far-reaching powers.

Hong Kong's democratic opposition believes the law will target them.

Wong speaks of "political persecution" and attempts at intimidation

Shortly before his court hearing on Wednesday, Wong suspected that he would have to be detained.

"There is a high possibility that I will be sentenced to prison," Wong wrote on Twitter.

It was about "political persecution," he continued.

Hong Kongers should be intimidated before the Chinese national holiday on October 1, on which there had been large protest marches in the past.

Several well-known supporters of the protest movement, including Wong's colleague Agnes Chow and well-known media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, were arrested a few weeks ago and later released on bail.

Other prominent supporters of the democracy movement have left Hong Kong as a precautionary measure because of the security law.

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as / dpa