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Joshua Wong, more commonly known as the face of the Umbrella Movement protests in Hong Kong, has expressed his support for local activist Jolovan Wham on Twitter. The Umbrella Movement was a series of protests in 2014 calling for democracy in Hong Kong that saw up to 100,000 protesters on the streets, and lasting for 79 days.
Wham has 7 charges brought against him, including one charge of organising an indoor forum with a foreign speaker speaking via Skype. That foreign speaker was Joshua Wong, who participated in a discussion about civil disobedience and its role in the democratisation of society.
“Demosisto regrets and is deeply saddened by Mr. Jolovan Wham’s being charged in court for holding public assemblies, during one of which he engaged one of our own, Joshua Wong, through Skype”, the statement reads. Demosisto is the name of the political party Joshua Wong and fellow activist Nathan Law has set up following the protests in 2014.
“(Joshua) would like to express solidarity from Hong Kong civil society with Wham, and to thank him for his bravery.”
"Exchanges between civil societies regarding social movements are of utmost importance, especially within East Asia." - @joshuawongcf on the news of @jolovanwham being charged in Singapore pic.twitter.com/3DB9dBGD3C
— Joshua Wong Chi-fung (@joshuawongcf) November 29, 2017
Joshua, along with Nathan, was recently sentenced to 6 and 8 months in jail respectively for participating in the Umbrella Movement protests. They are currently out on bail pending an appeal against their jail terms, failing which they would be sent back to jail.
Apart from Joshua and Demosisto, other organisations which have come out in support for Jolovan include Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Function 8, and prominent local activists and politicians. His case has also been reported by international publications like the Hong Kong Free Press and The New York Times.
An online petition has recently been set up in support of Jolovan, which has gained more than 1300 signatures since its inception yesterday.