Hong Kong democracy campaigner Figo Chan wore an "Avengers" hoodie into court for his jail sentence in a nod to his love of the comic series and its tale of heroic redemption. He says prison will make him a "better man".
Chan, 25, was one of eight activists jailed on Friday for taking part in 2019's huge pro-democracy protests, the latest in a long line of democracy figures now behind bars.
It was a prospect Chan was sanguine about.
"It's better for me to be jailed when I am still young," he told AFP ahead of his sentencing.
"I can do sports and train my muscles. Isn't that great? I will work out and read in jail then I will be a better man when I am out."
Few would have been surprised to see Chan chose to wear his beloved "Avengers" hoodie to court.
It was what he wore a few weeks ago when he went into detention ahead of his sentencing.
The movie franchise's story of superheroes battling seemingly insurmountable odds has always been popular in Hong Kong.
But it has taken on extra significance in recent years, especially among younger generations, as Beijing cracks down on freedoms.
Hong Kong's democracy movement is on its knees. Most of its leaders are under arrest, jailed or have fled overseas.
"I think we are at a low point," Chan said.
But he is adamant Hong Kongers still want the right to choose their leaders and will one day hit the streets again.
"I look forward to one day reading while I am in jail that two million Hong Kongers marched," he remarked.
– From pride to politics –
Like so many of Hong Kong's young pro-democracy figures, Chan became an activist as a teenager.
He recalled beaming with patriotic fervour as a child when Beijing held the 2008 Olympics.
"I really wanted to travel in mainland China and I believed I was a proud Chinese person".
But that patriotism dissipated as he went through adulthood.
"Nothing can give me that recognition of (Chinese) identity any more," he said.
Chan became a key figure within — and later led — the Civil Human Rights Front, the group that organised some of the massive rallies that took place in 2019 which hundreds of thousands of Hong Kongers attended.
The CHRF was not a radical organisation and was far removed from the masked frontliners who routinely battled police.
It espoused non-violence and always sought permission for its marches.
When that permission became routinely refused, the group held rallies anyway, arguing Hong Kongers had a right to be heard.
Hong Kong's courts have consistently ruled that attending unlawful rallies, even peaceful ones, is a crime and that the right to expression has firm limits.
On Friday, Chan got 18 months in jail.
Police have also begun a separate investigation into the CHRF itself, saying it has failed to adhere to regulations governing local societies.
Since 2019's huge rallies, protest has become impossible in Hong Kong, with authorities using the pandemic and security concerns to deny permission.
On Thursday, the June 4 Tiananmen vigil — an annual event usually attended by tens of thousands — was banned for the second year in a row, with authorities citing the coronavirus.
Since 2019's protest, China has imposed a sweeping national security law on the city to criminalise dissent.
Chan is adamant that while short term stability has been returned by force to Hong Kong, Beijing is setting itself up for more unrest in the longer term.
"When even the CHRF — which advocates peaceful, rational, lawful and non-violent expression — is not allowed, how can you convince people to remain peaceful?" he asked.
"My dream is when I am released, all my friends will be back in Hong Kong, including those who are now in exile or behind bars," he added.
"Then many of us will gather here, right outside the government headquarters, for a grand celebration."
Jimmy Lai among eight more Hong Kong democracy activists jailed
Hong Kong (AFP) May 28, 2021 –
Jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai was among eight democracy activists handed new prison sentences on Friday for attending protests on the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China that were followed by a sweeping crackdown.
Lai, who is already behind bars for taking part in earlier protests, was given 14 months after pleading guilty to organising an unlawful assembly on October 1, 2019.
He will now have to serve a total of 20 months for his multiple protest convictions.
Seven other leading activists, including 25-year-old youth campaigner Figo Chan, as well as former lawmakers Lee Cheuk-yan and Leung Kwok-hung, were also given new jail terms.
Some flashed "victory" hand signals on their way to court in a police van.
The new sentences are the latest in a relentless and successful campaign by China to smother dissent and dismantle Hong Kong's democracy movement.
The finance hub was convulsed by months of huge and often violent pro-democracy protests in 2019 in the most serious challenge to Beijing's rule since the city's 1997 handover.
The clashes with police on China's October 1 National Day were some of the worst of that period.
It was a vivid and embarrassing illustration of how huge swathes of Hong Kong's population seethe under Beijing's rule as the government celebrated 70 years since communist China's founding.
While President Xi Jinping oversaw a huge military parade in Beijing, clashes between hardcore protests and police raged across Hong Kong that day.
The march attended by the activists who were jailed on Friday remained largely peaceful. But it did not have official police permission, a requirement in Hong Kong.
"It was naive to believe a rallying call for peaceful and rational behaviour would be enough to ensure no violence," district judge Amanda Woodcock said as she handed down jail sentences to the eight activists.
– Successful crackdown –
China has responded to the democracy rallies with a broad clampdown on Hong Kong, including the imposition of a sweeping national security law that outlaws much dissent.
Hong Kong authorities on Thursday banned the annual June 4 vigil marking Beijing's 1989 Tianamen Square crackdown, with security minister John Lee warning the security law could be used against those who defy the ban.
More than 10,000 people were arrested during Hong Kong's democracy protests, with around 2,500 convicted for various offences.
Most of the city's prominent democracy leaders are under arrest, in jail or have fled overseas.
More than 100 people, including Lai, have been charged under the security law, which carries up to life in jail.
Those handed jail terms on Friday are from the more moderate wing of Hong Kong's democracy movement. Four were already serving jail sentences for taking part in protests.
Many of them have spent decades advocating non-violence in their ultimately fruitless campaign for universal suffrage.
Figo Chan, for example, was a key figure in the Civil Human Rights Front, the coalition that organised some of the largest rallies of 2019 when hundreds of thousands turned up.
Supporters chanted "Add oil!" — a Chinese phrase of encouragement — as the group were led into court on Friday.
At a mitigation hearing earlier in the week, Chan accused Hong Kong's unelected leaders of failing to give citizens an avenue to voice their dissatisfaction.
"If the government listened to people's demands, then it would not be necessary for the people to use violence to get the government to respond," he told the court.
Lee Cheuk-yan, 63, said he had no regrets about the prospect of going to jail.
"For over 40 years I have strived for democratic reform in China," he told the court.
"This is my unrequited love, the love for my country with such a heavy heart."
China says the clampdown and security law are needed to return stability.
It has dismissed the democracy demands and says the protests were instigated by "foreign forces" who want to undermine China.
Many Western nations say Beijing has shredded its promise that Hong Kong could maintain certain freedoms and autonomy under a "One Country, Two Systems" arrangement agreed before the city's 1997 handover.
