Page 11 - ARUBA TODAY

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WORLD NEWS Friday 18 august 2017

Young leaders of massive 2014 Hong Kong protests get prison

By KELVIN CHAN bodies, but not our minds!
Associated Press We want democracy in
HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong. And we will not
Hong Kong court sent give up.”
young activist Joshua “See you soon,” he added.
Wong and two other stu- He pumped his fist in the
dent leaders to prison Thurs- air as he walked out of the
day for their roles in huge dock into custody.
pro-democracy protests The three were found guilty
nearly three years earlier, last year of leading or en-
in the latest sign that toler- couraging an illegal rally
ance for dissent is waning in September 2014 that
in the Chinese-ruled former kicked off the “Umbrella
British colony. Movement” protests that
The High Court overturned captured world headlines.
an earlier verdict that let Youthful activists brought
Wong, Nathan Law and major thoroughfares to a
Alex Chow avoid prison, standstill for 11 weeks to
agreeing with prosecutors protest Beijing’s plan to re-
that the original punish- strict elections in the semi-
ment for joining or leading autonomous region.
an unlawful assembly that Wong and Law were origi-
sparked the protests was nally given community
too light. service and Chow had re-
They were immediately tak- ceived a suspended three- Hong Kong activists, from left to right, Nathan Law, Joshua Wong and Alex Chow chant slogans
outside the high court before a ruling on a prosecution request for stiffer sentences in Hong Kong,
en to serve their sentenc- week prison sentence. Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. Young Hong Kong activist Wong and two other student leaders of huge
es of up to eight months, A three-judge panel on pro-democracy protests in 2014 braced for a court decision Thursday that could send them to
which have the added Thursday decided to stiffen prison. The three were found guilty of leading or encouraging an illegal rally in September 2014
consequence of blocking those sentences following that kicked off the demonstrations known as the “Umbrella Movement.”
each of them from seeking the justice secretary’s re- (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)a
public office for five years. quest. The judges, who said following deductions that Their supporters said they the city’s Beijing-backed
Wong had little visible reac- there was a need to de- included one-month cuts in plan to appeal. government uses the courts
tion as the verdict was read ter others, gave Law eight sentences for the commu- The case raises fears that to clamp down on the op-
out but tweeted minutes months in prison, seven to nity service Wong and Law Hong Kong’s independent position and constrain its
after: “You can lock up our Chow and six for Wong, completed. judiciary is under threat as ability to protest.q
Threat looms of more mudslides in Sierra Leone amid burials

By CLARENCE MACAULAY mained missing from the will be buried individually homes in impoverished, Cooper, the deputy minis-
LEKAN OYEKANMI mudslides and flooding in a dignified manner, said low-lying areas of Freetown ter of health and sanitation,
Associated Press early Monday, as workers Cornelius Deveaux, deputy and surrounding communi- told The Associated Press.
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone sought to recover more minister of information and ties. “The rains are still pending
(AP) — The government has bodies from the thick mud communications. Dr. Owiss With more rain forecast for and there is a possibility
begun burying the 350 peo- and debris of smashed Koroma, the government’s the coming week, further that we will have another
ple killed earlier this week in homes. The government chief pathologist, said the mudslides are possible. The incident,” he said. “We
mudslides in Sierra Leone’s hired 600 gravediggers confirmed death toll from Office of National Security would rather have struc-
capital, and it warned for the burials, which are the mudslide and flooding said a crack has opened tures falling down without
Thursday of new danger taking place in a cem- was at least 350. A third of on the side of a mountain people in them.”
from a large crack that has etery where victims of the the victims are children. where residents were told The mudslides tore apart
opened on a mountainside 2014-15 Ebola outbreak Many of the victims were to evacuate. multistory concrete homes,
where residents were told that killed thousands in the too mangled and decom- The main focus is getting with their metal rein-
to evacuate. West African nation were posed to be identified. people away from areas forcements tangled like
Another 600 people re- laid to rest. Each person Thousands have lost their still under threat, Zuliatu threads.q