Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong freed on bail pending appeal

In this Aug. 17, 2017 photo, Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong, right, and Nathan Law, left, speak outside the high court before a ruling on a prosecution request for stiffer sentences following a lower court decision that let them avoid prison in Hong Kong. (AP)

HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s highest court has freed pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong and Nathan Law on bail pending an appeal of their prison sentences after they were convicted of sparking massive protests in 2014.
The two were granted bail on Tuesday by the Court of Final Appeal, according to a post on their political party’s Facebook page.
In August, the two along with a third student leader were given prison sentences of six to eight months for unlawful assembly related to the “Umbrella Movement” protests.
They had been given more lenient, non-custodial sentences earlier but the justice secretary requested that the courts review those punishments.
The move sparked fears that authorities were undermining the semiautonomous Chinese city’s independent judiciary.