ICC Note: Last Thursday, Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal sentenced Wong, Nathan Law Kwun-chung and Alex Chow Yong-kang to six to eight months in jail, three years after they helped organize the largest pro-democracy protests. The three had already served community service sentences, and the prison terms represented a major increase in punishment. In her letter to her Christian son, Joshua Wong’s mother encourages him to be courageous just like Joshua in the Old Testament.

08/18/2017 Hong Kong (Gospel Herald) –After Christian pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong was sentenced to six months in prison for his role in the 2014 street demonstrations for freer elections of Hong Kong’s leader, his mother reminded him to be courageous like his namesake, Joshua of the Old Testament.

In a letter penned to Wong, 20, just before his his sentence was handed down on Thursday, Grace Ng Chau-mei referenced the biblical figure Joshua, who led the Israelites in the conquest of God’s “Promised Land” in Canaan.

She wrote: “Dad and I gave you this name ‘Joshua’. So don’t forget what God told Joshua: reflect on whatever you do, follow the truth, and you can be courageous.”

The New York Times reports that on Thursday, Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal sentenced Wong, Nathan Law Kwun-chung and Alex Chow Yong-kang to six to eight months in jail for storming the government headquarters compound at ­Tamar prior to the headline-grabbing “Umbrella Movement” protests three years ago.

At the time, Hong Kong police arrested more than 900 people during the 11-week demonstrations, which forced streets in several major business districts to shut down for almost three months.

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