On August 15, 2017, Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal sentenced Nathan Law to eight months in prison for organizing over 200,000 pro-democracy Umbrella Movement demonstrators on a 79-day blockade in the business districts of Hong Kong three years ago. Fellow organizers Joshua Wong and Alex Chow were also tried and sentenced to six and seven months in prison for their roles in the protests. On August 18, 2017, Hong Kong authorities detained Mr. Wong, who is the first to start serving his sentence.
The revised sentences stem from a review of a lower court’s ruling. Under the original July 2016 ruling, Mr. Chow was sentenced to a three-week suspended sentence, and Mr. Law and Mr. Wong received 120 and 80 hours of community service, respectively.
Thousands of people flooded the streets of Hong Kong to protest the revised sentences, which came after the activists had already served their original sentences, and have united under the slogan “We are all Nathan Law, Joshua Wong, and Alex Chow.”
The Umbrella Movement formed in response to China Central Government’s decision on the Hong Kong election. Protesters claimed the decision did not represent the citizens’ will and demand for the “high degree of autonomy” stated in Hong Kong’s basic law.
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It’s now or never – our best chance to democratize the European Union will be determined in the weeks to come. Nothing like the European Citizens’ Initiative exists anywhere else, and it’s up to us to tell the Commission that citizens everywhere demand a new and improved ECI that works.
A few days ago, we announced that The ECI Rescue Team will be heading to Brussels next week to deliver the signatures and our petition including a list of demands to the Commission. When we introduce our proposals to the Commission, we want it to be absolutely clear that the citizens believe in a strong ECI too!
last one was the worst yet for the climate. Donald Trump is doing everything he can to undo the progress we’ve made together in recent years, even pulling the U.S. out of the