Hong Kong: Actor Gregory Wong among 12 people jailed over 2019 protests

Hong Kong representative Gregory Wong and 11 other people have been jailed for their role in storming the city's Legislative Council during protests in 2019.

Wong was sentenced to just over six years in prison, one of the longest sentences handed down by the local court on Saturday.

Activists Ventus Lau and Owen Chow were also among those sentenced to prison for the pro-democracy protest.

Meanwhile, two journalists were fined for illegally entering the Legislative Council chamber at that time.

Most of those accused were convicted of rioting.

The incident occurred in July 2019 and was seen as a significant moment in the pro-democracy protests sparked by a controversial law allowing the extradition of people to mainland China.

Hundreds of demonstrators entered the building, spraying messages on the walls and carrying supplies to the occupiers.

The building was severely damaged, with pictures of political leaders torn from the walls and furniture smashed.

Judge Lee Chi Ho said on Saturday that the break-in caused, in addition to material damage, “long-lasting” social impacts.

“Apart from the actual damage to the building, it had a symbolic meaning… [which was] “This is about challenging the Hong Kong government and even weakening its rule,” Lee said, according to Agence France-Presse.

The protests led to a strict national security law, making a wide range of opposition actions illegal and reducing the city's autonomy. The law allows China to have jurisdiction over Hong Kong's national security issues in some circumstances.

Beijing, which imposed the law on Hong Kong, and the city's authorities say the law is necessary to maintain stability and deny that it has weakened autonomy.

More than 100 people are believed to have been detained under the legislation imposed by Beijing in 2020.

Hong Kong, a former British colony, was returned to China in 1997 under the “one country, two systems” principle. Critics accuse the Chinese Communist Party of violating the agreement to grant the city a high degree of autonomy and maintain its economic and social systems.

Update: This article has been updated to clarify details about Hong Kong's national security law.