Joshua Wong to be sentenced on September 2 in Hong Kong security case

Hongkong,UPDATED: Jul 7, 2026 11:50 IST

Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong is scheduled to be sentenced on September 2 in a case brought under the Beijing-imposed national security law. The judiciary's website showed on Tuesday that the hearing, for plea and sentence, is expected to last one day.

Wong, a former student leader in Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement, was arrested in June 2025 on suspicion of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security. It is the second time he has been charged under the national security law introduced in 2020 after the massive anti-government protests that shook the city in 2019.

According to the case, Wong is accused of conspiring with fellow activist Nathan Law and others between July 1 and November 23, 2020. They were accused of asking foreign countries or institutions, organisations or individuals outside China to impose sanctions, blockades or take other hostile actions against Hong Kong or China.

The offence carries a prison term of three to 10 years, or up to life imprisonment if it is deemed to be "of a grave nature". In a separate national security case linked to an unofficial primary election, Wong pleaded guilty in 2024 and was sentenced to four years and eight months.

Wong first came to prominence in 2012 as a high school student leading protests against the introduction of national education in Hong Kong schools. He later became internationally known as a leader of the 2014 Occupy Movement. In 2016, he co-founded the political party Demosisto with other young activists, including Law. During the 2019 pro-democracy movement, Wong helped seek overseas support for the protests. Beijing labelled him an advocate of Hong Kong independence who "begged for interference" by foreign forces.

Demosisto disbanded after Beijing imposed the security law in 2020, which authorities say has brought back stability to the city. Hong Kong authorities have also offered rewards of 1 million Hong Kong dollars for information leading to the arrests of Law, who moved to Britain, and other overseas-based activists. Last month, a London court sentenced a former UK border official and a retired Hong Kong police officer to prison for spying on dissidents and critics of Beijing in Britain, with prosecutors saying their targets included Law.

Wong now faces sentencing in September in the latest national security case against him, as authorities continue to pursue pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong and overseas.

With PTI Inputs

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