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Occupy center leaders, from right to right, Tanya Chan, man Chan Kin, Benny Tai, Chu Yiu Ming and Lee Wing Tat shout slogans before entering a court in Hong Kong on Monday November 19, 2018. Nine leaders of the Hong Kong Pro 2014 – the democratic movement is judged. The co-founders of the "Occupy Central" campaign – legal professor Benny Tai Yiu-Ting, sociology professor Chan Kin-man and retired pastor Chu Yiu-ming – face charges related to planning and the implementation of the campaign which is now part of the campaign. large-scale demonstrations of the Umbrella Movement for Democracy that took place 79 days between September and December 2014 (Vincent Yu / Associated Press)
HONG KONG – Three protest leaders and six others were tried on Monday for their involvement in the "Occupy Central" protest that paralyzed Hong Kong's financial district for more than two months in 2014.
Led by more than 100 supporters, some wearing yellow umbrellas that symbolized the movement, the nine defendants raised their fists in the air and chanted "Shame on Political Prosecutions!" Before entering the courthouse from West Kowloon.
Two university professors and a pastor, who together led the campaign for free elections for the country's highest leader, were charged with conspiracy to create public disruption and incitement to public nuisance.
The other defendants – two current MPs and a former lawmaker, two student leaders and a political activist – are charged with incitement to commit a public nuisance. Each charge is punishable by up to seven years.
Three university students pursued in 2016 for their leadership role in the events have benefited from a community service. But since then, Hong Kong judges have been facing increasing pressure from Beijing to impose heavier sentences to deter future protests.
Some residents of the semi-autonomous Chinese city fear that the central government's interference will undermine the independence of the judiciary, a fundamental value that underpins the city's position as the world's capital of commerce.
The protesters, in what was also known as the coordination movement, besieged the seat of the government for 79 days, but did not obtain concessions. Thousands of people have camped in the main arteries of the financial district. Several hundred have been arrested.
The nine defendants, aged between 30 and 74, extend over generations of Hong Kong citizens who claimed a complete democracy while the former British colony passed to Chinese sovereignty under the rule of law. a device "one country, two systems" supposed to preserve the civil liberties of the city.
The trial is expected to last 20 days.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, disseminated, rewritten or redistributed.
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