Former student leader and ousted lawmaker Nathan Law lodges final appeal against jail sentence

He is the second to do so out of imprisoned trio of student activists

Occupy Central

Chris Lau

Published: 9:57am, 5 Sep 2017

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One more Hong Kong student activist from a trio jailed for storming the government headquarters in a prelude to the Occupy movement of 2014 has lodged a final appeal against his jail sentence.

Former lawmaker Nathan Law Kwun-chung filed his appeal on Monday, according to the justice department. He was originally spared imprisonment by a lower court but later jailed eight months after prosecutors succeeded in securing tougher sentences.

Law, who was stripped of his legislator’s seat over an invalid oath earlier this year, is the second to file an appeal following fellow activist Alex Chow Yong-kang’s bid last week. Chow is serving a seven-month jail term.

Jailed Hong Kong student activist Alex Chow lodges final appeal

Joshua Wong Chi-fung, the remaining member of the group, has yet to lodge an appeal. He is serving a jail sentence of six months.

Law and Chow are asking the Court of Appeal, which jailed them, to grant permission to take their applications to the Court of Final Appeal, the city’s top court.

(From left) Nathan Law, Joshua Wong and Alex Chow appearing at the High Court last month. Photo: Edward Wong

Last year the three were given either a suspended sentence or community service by the Eastern Court, after they were convicted of taking part or inciting others to participate in an unlawful assembly on September 26, 2014.

Protesters had attempted to storm the forecourt of the government headquarters in a bid to reclaim what they called the “Civic Square”.

But lawyers from the Department of Justice pushed for a deterrent sentence and took the trio back to the appeal court last month, demanding a jail term.

On August 17, three appeal court judges jailed the trio, saying that the activists would have foreseen violence and clashes that night, despite claiming to be peaceful.

The court decision sparked concerns about the city’s judicial independence and led to a protest march attended by thousands last month.

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