Heavy sentences fell on March 16 against twelve Hong Kongers who participated in the storming and ransacking of Parliament in July 2019. Dozens of other participants fled Hong Kong following this episode and are currently in exile.
The assault on Legco on July 1, 2019 marked the start of a violent spiral of the demonstration movement. It began in opposition to an extradition bill to China a few weeks earlier. The political activist, Owen Chow, 27, also prosecuted in the trial linked to the primaries of the pro-democracy camp, received five years and one month in prison.