The pro-democracy campaigner will remain in prison for another decade after pleading guilty to conspiring with foreign forces.
Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday for colluding with foreign forces under the city's national security law. According to BBC News, the sentence follows Wong's guilty plea in September to charges involving conspiracy with other campaigners to lobby for foreign sanctions and blockades against Beijing between July and late November 2020.
Wong, who turned 30 last month, had been serving a sentence for subversion and was expected to be released in January. The judge stated that two months and two days of the new 10-year term will be served concurrently with his ongoing sentence.
Prosecutors alleged that Wong conspired with other campaigners, including self-exiled activist Nathan Law, to lobby for sanctions. Wong and Law were co-founders of the now-defunct political party Demosisto.
The sentencing has drawn criticism from rights groups and activists. Frances Hui, a fellow activist, described the verdict as part of a broader political crackdown. Elaine Pearson, Asia director for a rights group, said the government appears to have adopted a tactic of stacking charges against influential leaders to keep society subdued.
Wong rose to prominence during the 2014 Umbrella Movement and co-founded the student group Scholarism in 2011. He has been in and out of jail since 2017 due to various protest-related prosecutions under the national security law imposed in 2020.
