Wong Nobing has been sentenced for another 10 years: long prison terms from the streets of Hong Kong to the security laws of the country

On 5 November, the High Court of Hong Kong sentenced the Democratic Movement Huang Xinbing to 10 years' imprisonment for “cooperative foreign forces” under the Hong Kong National Security Act. He has spent almost six years in prison since he was detained in November

1. This sentence extended his prison life and brought the past public political lobbying abroad into the context of serious national security crimes.

Yellow Wing is 30 years old. He became a familiar Hong Kong youth protester in the international community during the 2014 umbrella campaign, when he was opposed to the national education curriculum in his youth. He then continued to receive media interviews, to brief foreign parliamentarians on the situation in Hong Kong and to call on the international community to focus on democracy and self-government in Hong Kong. The claims made publicly on the street and outside Parliament are now the background of his criminal case.

articles, interviews and overseas initiatives for security in the country

According to Reuters and Human Rights Watch, the prosecution has alleged that Wong Noboro worked with the exiled Hirondelles in 2020, which involved calling on foreign governments to impose sanctions on officials in Chinaport. The prosecution also cited his comments, media interviews and relevant social media postings transmitted. Huang Noboa was officially guilty on 2 September and sentenced to 10 years on 5 November.

The National Security Act of Hong Kong provides for a penalty of 10 years to life imprisonment for offences that are considered to be “cooperative with foreign forces” in serious circumstances. The public controversy in this case, which focused on the line between peaceful political activities and criminal offences of national security: why is it that the international community is expressing its opposition to such a long deprivation of liberty?

The Hong Kong Government insists on the NSA for national security. HRW, for its part, considered the activities involved in the Yellow Front to be peaceful political expressions and called for their immediate release. The difference between the two parties did not arise from an understanding of the number of sentences imposed, but from a fundamentally different judgement as to whether Hong Kong residents could publicly seek outside political support.

From student leaders to long-term detention

The 2012 People ' s Education Against National Education Campaign made Wong Nobing a new generation of student activists in Hong Kong. His activities continued to receive international media attention during the umbrella campaign in 2014 and the anti-codification campaign in 2019; At that time, he was able to organize events, interview and participate in political initiatives abroad.

The National Security Act of 2020 was enforced, the popular wish of Hong Kong was dissolved and many activists were arrested or exiled. Huang Noboa was detained since November of the same year, and has been facing successive trials and prison terms in different cases. HRW estimated that according to the current prison terms, he could be held until the end of 2036, when he was close to 40 years of age.

A photograph of an earlier gathering recorded him in public space. The public is now informed of his recent situation, and more is reported through court decisions, detention information and human rights bodies. His involvement in the Hong Kong Democratic Movement has also undergone a dramatic change in the organization, the arrest of members and exile.

The impact of sentencing is more than yellow

The case has clear consequences for the civil society that remains in Hong Kong: political opinions, cooperation with outsiders and advocacy for foreign interest in Hong Kong policy may be subject to national security criminal review. This has a direct impact on how they express their differences of opinion in the future for media workers, activists and the general population.

The Yellow Front case is therefore a record of changes in Hong Kong ' s political space. From young students to the streets to international lobbying, which is the focus of the national security case, his personal fate is closely intertwined with the change of the political system in Hong Kong. The key to measuring freedom of expression in a city remains the ability of dissenters to speak publicly without facing heavy sentences.