Three of Hong Kong’s most high-profile democracy activists have pleaded not guilty to charges of public nuisance for their involvement in nearly three months of street protests in 2014 that brought parts of the city to a standstill.
The three men face up to seven years in prison if convicted under a colonial-era law for encouraging mass protests that became known as the Umbrella movement and called for direct elections for Hong Kong’s leader, a position that is in effect appointed by Beijing.
Sociology professor Chan Kin-man, 59, law professor Benny Tai, 54, and baptist minister Chu Yiu-ming, 74, formed “Occupy Central with Love and Peace” in 2013, saying if the government did not deliver universal suffrage the following year they would take to the streets. The trio eventually merged their group with student protesters, lead by Joshua Wong, and spent 79 days camped out in front of the government headquarters. But the protests did not lead to any changes.
In the four years since the protest, freedoms in Hong Kong have been dramatically curtailed, with the government aggressively targeting pro-democracy activists with what some say are politically motivated prosecutions, barring candidates from standing for election, removing popularly elected members of the city’s legislature and banning a fringe political party. Last month, the government expelled a Financial Times journalist for hosting a talk on the topic of independence.
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