2 Hong Kong former legislators-elect sentenced to jail for taking part in unlawful assembly in LegCo meeting

HONG KONG -- A court of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) sentenced on Monday Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching, two disqualified legislators-elect, and their three assistants to four weeks in prison after they were found guilty of taking part in an unlawful assembly for storming a Legislative Council (LegCo) meeting.

A magistrate of the Kowloon City Magistrates' Court said what Leung and Yau, and their three assistants did, had "directly damaged the legislature's integrity."

The five tried to force their way into a LegCo conference room in November 2016, after Leung and Yau failed to take their oaths of office properly and were banned from the LegCo meeting, according to the court.

They pushed and shoved the security guards who were stopping them from entering the conference room. Six security guards were injured in the chaos and taken to hospital for treatment.

They were convicted last month of taking part in an unlawful assembly.

Acting Principal Magistrate of the Kowloon City Magistrates' Court Wong Sze-lai said in Monday's sentencing that it was a serious case because the defendants' action was premeditated, and despite the security guards' repeated verbal warnings, they used violence which inflicted injuries to some security guards.

The defendants were not exercising their constitutional rights when they used violence, and the sentences must show deterrence and reflect the public's concerns, worries and disgust over the use of violence, the magistrate said.

Leung and Yau used derogatory language insulting the country and nation when taking their oaths at a swearing-in ceremony of the new LegCo on Oct. 12, 2016. The pair were disqualified by the HKSAR High Court in November 2016.