Hong Kong: activist Agnes Chow talks about her "painful stay" in prison
Pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow, released from prison on June 12, 2021 in Hong Kong.
AP - Vincent Yu
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
In Hong Kong, the young pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow, released on Saturday June 12, finally spoke through social networks.
She had not said anything when she was released from prison in Tuen Mun, where dozens of supporters had come to wait for her.
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With our correspondent in Hong Kong,
Florence de Changy
On her Instagram account, Agnes Chow posted only a black screen, late at night, explaining that her priority was to recover physically because her stay in prison, which she described as "
painful
" had strongly. affected.
“
The painful stay of six months and twenty days is finally over.
The next step is to rest and take care of my health because I lost too much weight and became too weak during this period,
”wrote the young activist, also a brilliant student of political science.
She also thanked the crowd of supporters who had come
to welcome her on her release from prison
.
She was symbolically released on June 12, the first anniversary of the first violent rally of the anti-government movement, which then continued for several months.
Calls to mark this date had been launched by the opposition.
"
Good conduct
"
Agnes Chow was sentenced to ten months in prison last December, on her 24th birthday, for having encouraged and participated in an illegal gathering, in this case the headquarters of the central police station which had lasted one day and one. part of the night at the very beginning of the 2019 revolt movement.
Ivan Lam and Joshua Wong, two of his comrades from the same political party, Demosisto, dissolved just before the
national security law
came into force
a year ago, are still in prison.
Agnès Chow was released shortly before the end of her sentence for "
good behavior
".
►
To read also: Hong Kong: who is Agnès Chow, figure of the pro-democracy movement?
At least three arrests on anniversary of 2019 protests
On Saturday, Hong Kong police arrested at least three protesters, men aged 15 to 19, on the anniversary of the 2019 pro-democracy protests. public order and failure to present proof of identity, while at least 10 people were summoned for violating an assembly ban, police said after protests and the chanting of slogans in violation of the law national security system imposed last June.
Small groups gathered on Saturday to commemorate the first major clashes between protesters and police two years ago, when tens of thousands protested against a bill that would have allowed the extradition of suspects to the mainland to be judged there.
Many Hong Kong residents saw this bill as a further erosion of the city's special status, which was supposed to be guaranteed by the "one country, two systems" principle agreed upon when Britain ceded it to China in 1997.
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Hong Kong: pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow freed