‘Jailing of HK protesters deeply disappointing’

LONDON: British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Thursday it was "deeply disappointing" that leaders of Hong Kong’s democracy movement have been jailed for organising mass protests in 2014.

"The sentences handed to the ‘Occupy’ activists in Hong Kong are deeply disappointing," he said in a statement on Twitter, the day after four prominent leaders were imprisoned for their role.

"One Country Two Systems and the (Sino-British) Joint Declaration are about respect for civil and political freedoms." Earlier, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Theresa May’s office said free speech and assembly rights in Hong Kong must be "fully respected".

"It would be deeply concerning if the outcome for these individuals were to deter the people of Hong Kong from participating in peaceful protest in the future," she said. "Freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are both guaranteed by the Sino-British Joint Declaration and it is important that these... are fully respected." The 2014 Umbrella Movement protests, which called for free elections to appoint Hong Kong’s leader, paralysed the city for months and infuriated Beijing.

Four prominent leaders of the movement were jailed on Wednesday for their role. Hong Kong enjoys rights unseen in mainland China, including freedom of speech and the press, which are enshrined in the 1997 Sino-British Joint Declaration when Britain handed the territory back to China.