A Hong Kong court has sentenced 12 people to jail terms of up to almost seven years in a high-profile rioting case linked to the storming of the city legislature during a pro-democracy protest in 2019.
The incident was a pivotal moment in the months-long protests that embroiled the territory in the boldest populist uprising against Chinese Communist party rule since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing. Demonstrators broke into Hong Kong’s legislative council building on 1 July 2019, smashing windows and streaming inside as public anger mounted over an “extradition” bill that would have allowed authorities to send people to mainland China for trial.
Those sentenced by district court judge Li Chi-ho on Saurday included actor Gregory Wong, 45, who had pleaded not guilty.
The political activists Ventus Lau and Owen Chow, who had pleaded guilty, were also given jail terms.
