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Photo: ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP
The prominent Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong and two of his fellow activists must be temporarily detained.
A court ordered on Monday, according to a spokesman for Wong, that the activists would not be allowed to walk until the end of the ongoing trial next Wednesday (December 2nd).
At the start of the trial, Wong pleaded guilty to organizing an unauthorized protest.
For this he and his colleagues could face up to five years in prison.
Shortly before the trial began, Wong had announced that he would face an immediate jail sentence.
His colleague Ivan Lam also wanted to plead guilty.
The also accused activist Agnes Chow had done so before.
"I wouldn't be surprised if I was arrested immediately today," Wong said on Monday.
"We will continue to fight for freedom and now is not time for us to cower in Beijing and give up." He will plead guilty to having organized an unauthorized meeting in front of the Wan Chai Police Department on June 21 last year .
According to Wong, it was a minor offense.
He and his colleagues are prepared to face an immediate prison sentence.
He hoped that this would draw global attention to the Hong Kong judicial system, which Beijing was manipulating.
In 2019 there had been mass protests in Hong Kong for months against the increasing influence of China.
The protesters also regularly went outside police headquarters to request an independent investigation into police violence against government opponents.
More than 10,000 people were arrested during the protests.
Since then, the Hong Kong authorities have stepped up their crackdown on the democracy movement.
Since June, they can also fall back on a so-called security law passed by Beijing.
It allows the Hong Kong authorities to crack down on any activity they believe threatens China's national security.
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as / AFP