Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of foreign collusion under the city’s national security law. The 30-year-old activist, who rose to prominence as a teenage leader during the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests, submitted his guilty plea in September.

Wong was accused of working with exiled Hong Kong activist Nathan Law to urge foreign powers to impose sanctions and other hostile measures against China. In his ruling, High Court Judge William Tam described Wong’s actions as “grave in nature” and part of a “scheme” to collude with foreign governments.

The judge stated that Wong had visited the United States to seek foreign interference prior to the introduction of the national security law in 2020 and continued to share social media posts by Law calling for sanctions even after the law was enacted. Wong’s sentence will run concurrently with the remaining term of his previous national security offense.

Human rights organizations and supporters have criticized the sentencing, with Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director Sarah Brooks calling it “another grim reminder of how Hong Kong’s national security law has become a tool to punish dissent rather than to genuinely protect national security.”

Wong gained international attention during the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests, which paralyzed Hong Kong’s financial center and galvanized a generation of young activists. He appeared on the cover of Time magazine in October 2014 under the headline “The Face of Protest.”

When protests erupted again in 2019 over a proposed extradition bill, Wong was serving a prison sentence for his role in the 2014 demonstrations. He was released at the height of the protests and immediately rejoined the movement.

In 2020, Beijing introduced the sweeping national security law, which critics say has been used to target political opposition, dissolve civil society groups, and silence independent media. Wong is the only activist in Hong Kong to be prosecuted twice under the law.

The sentencing of Joshua Wong serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing crackdown on pro-democracy activism in Hong Kong. As the city’s political landscape continues to shift under the weight of the national security law, the future of dissent and freedom of expression remains uncertain.