Hong Kong democracy activists appeal jail terms

Bailed Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong (centre, left) looks on as fellow activist Nathan Law (cantre) speaks to the media as they wait for another activist, Alex Chow, outside the Court of Final Appeal before their first appeal hearing against jail sentences in Hong Kong on January 16, 2018. -AFP

HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s leading democracy activists were in court Tuesday to appeal against their jail terms in a case seen as a litmus test for the independence of the city’s judiciary, which some fear is under pressure from Beijing.

Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow were jailed in August last year for their role in the 2014 Umbrella Movement mass protests, after Hong Kong’s government pushed for harsher sentences.