Wong seeks lighter sentence in national security case
On.cc · 1 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago6 MIN
Summary
Joshua Wong’s defence urged the court to sentence him within the lower punishment tier under the Hong Kong national security law, arguing the case should not be classified as “serious”. Counsel also asked for extra sentence reduction on top of the one-third discount for a guilty plea, saying Wong has already spent six years in custody and that the case was delayed for years before making progress
Key Points
- Senior counsel Chan Ching-lung (陳政龍), representing Wong, told the court the 29-year-old was only 23 at the time of the offence and has now spent six years in prison reflecting on his conduct
- The defence cited a mitigation letter written by Wong himself, saying he has continued reading and self-improvement in custody, maintained a positive attitude, and accepted that he breached the national security law
- Counsel said the offence carries two sentencing tiers: three to 10 years’ imprisonment in ordinary cases, and life imprisonment or at least 10 years in serious cases
- On sentencing starting point, the defence asked the court to place the case in the non-serious category and use the upper end of the ordinary range, arguing it should be near 10 years rather than the serious tier
- Chan referred to Jimmy Lai’s national security case, saying the starting point there for conspiracy to collude with foreign forces was 15 years and was far more serious than Wong’s case
- The defence said Wong’s conduct in this case was concentrated within about one month after the national security law took effect in July 2020
- Counsel also argued there was little progress by the prosecution from 2020 to 2023 before financial-record inquiries were later carried out, and asked the court to take that delay into account
- The court heard Wong’s expected release date in the “47 democrats” case is January 2027, about four months away, and the defence sought an additional two-year reduction because this case might originally have run concurrently
Why It Matters
The sentencing dispute centres on whether the court accepts the case as falling outside the “serious” category, a distinction that sharply changes the available punishment range under the national security law. For Hong Kong readers, the defence’s request for extra discount over delay and concurrency also shows how time already served in other major cases may shape the final prison term