Supporters of Sentenced Umbrella Movement Leaders Gather Outside Detention Centre

A vigil was held on the evening of April 24 outside of Hong Kong’s Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre, the facility where leaders behind the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement protests in 2014 were taken after their sentencing that day.

The nine people sentenced included Benny Tai Yiu-ting, Chan Kin-man, Shiu Ka-chun, Raphael Wong Ho-ming, Chu Yiu-ming, Tanya Chan, Lee Wing-tat, Tommy Cheung Sau-yin, and Eason Chung Yiu-wa, the South China Morning Post reported.

Collectively referred to at times as the “Occupy Central Nine” (佔中9子), the activists ranged from lawmakers to student leaders, and all played key roles in the civil disobedience protests for universal suffrage that shut down Hong Kong’s Central business district in 2014.

According to the South China Morning Post and tweets from local reporters, five of the activists – Tai, Chan Kin-man, Shiu and Wong – were sent to Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre immediately. The others received suspended sentences or community service, with the judge citing their public service, youth, or in the case of lawmaker Tanya Chan, an impending brain surgery, as reasoning.

This livestreamed footage from outside the detention facility shows demonstrators playing music, holding candles and giving speeches in support of the sentenced activists. Credit: Rice Post via Storyful