Two of Hong Kong’s leading activists were found not guilty Tuesday morning local time on obstruction charges related to democracy protests that shook the city in 2014.
Joshua Wong, 19, and Nathan Law, 22, were cleared of charges before a packed and sweltering courtroom at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts as demonstrators flew yellow democracy banners outside. Two other activists appearing in court with Law and Wong were also found not guilty.
Speaking outside the courtroom, Wong told TIME: “I think it’s great that Hong Kong still has an approximation of rule of law and independence.” He added: “The result of this trial is already proof that it’s just a political prosecution.”
Wong wore an open, white button-down shirt over a sea-foam green and blue T-shirt bearing the name of the political party he co-founded with Law and others, Demosistō. The party calls for the people of Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of China, to have the right to self-determination — a demand that is anathema to Beijing, which regards Hong Kong’s nascent pro-independence movement as dangerous separatism.
In June 2014 Wong and Law — then respectively the head of student activist group Scholarism and a leader of the Hong Kong Federation of Students — burned a mock-up of a white paper released by the central government in Beijing that condemned Hong Kong’s democracy movement, restricted the right of Hong Kong voters to choose the city’s leader, and reasserted China’s sovereignty over the territory. Prosecutors claimed that when police moved into to douse the flames with bottles of water, an altercation developed. According to local media, one officer testified that Wong and Law prevented him from moving forward.
However, Wong and Law denied obstruction, saying they were pushed by the crowd and could not hear what the officer was saying.
Protests over the white paper, and demands for greater political freedoms in Hong Kong, eventually developed into the Umbrella Revolution — a 79-day occupation of key districts of the city in the fall of 2014. Wong and Law were prominent figures in the occupations, which saw tens of thousands of mostly young Hong Kongers erect tented villages in the shadow of major government and military buildings. The protest was the most significant pro-democracy gathering on Chinese soil since the brutally suppressed 1989 occupation of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
79 Days That Shook Hong Kong
Pro-democracy demonstrators are sprayed with pepper spray during clashes with police officers during a rally near the Hong Kong government headquarters on Sept. 28, 2014. Xaume Olleros—AFP/Getty ImagesA pro-democracy demonstrator gestures after police fired tear gas towards protesters near the Hong Kong government headquarters on Sept. 28, 2014. Xaume Olleros—AFP/Getty ImagesRiot police use tear gas against protesters after thousands of people blocked a main road at the financial central district in Hong Kong, Sept. 28, 2014. APPolicemen rest following pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong on Sept. 29, 2014. Xaume Olleros—AFP/Getty ImagesA protester raises his arms as police officers try to disperse the crowd near the government headquarters in Hong Kong, Sept. 29, 2014. Carlos Barria—ReutersProtesters gather in the streets outside the Hong Kong Government Complex on Sept. 29, 2014 in Hong Kong.Chris McGrath—Getty ImagesPro-democracy demonstrators hold up their mobile phones during a protest near the Hong Kong government headquarters on Sept. 29, 2014. Dale de la Rey—AFP/Getty ImagesA protester sleeps on the streets outside the Hong Kong Government Complex at sunrise on Sept. 30, 2014 in Hong Kong.Paula Bronstein—Getty ImagesProtesters take part in a rally on a street outside of Hong Kong Government Complex on Sept. 30, 2014 in Hong Kong. Anthony Kwan—Getty ImagesJoshua Wong, leader of the student movement, delivers a speech as protesters block the main street to the financial Central district, outside the government headquarters building in Hong Kong Oct. 1, 2014. Carlos Barria—ReutersProtesters react as Joshua Wong (not pictured), leader of the student movement, speaks to the crowd outside the government headquarters building in Hong Kong, Oct. 1, 2014. Carlos Barria—ReutersA protester holding an umbrella stands on the street close to the Hong Kong Government Complex on Oct. 1, 2014 in Hong Kong. Chris McGrath—Getty ImagesA local resident breaks through police lines and attempts to reach the pro-democracy tent on Oct. 3, 2014 in Mong Kok, Hong Kong.Chris McGrath—Getty ImagesPolicemen try to get a man to let go of a fence guarded by pro-democracy demonstrators in an occupied area of Hong Kong on Oct. 3, 2014. Philippe Lopez—AFP/Getty ImagesA pro-democracy protester sleeps on a concrete road divider on a street outside the Hong Kong Government Complex on Oct. 5, 2014 in Hong Kong.Chris McGrath—Getty ImagesThe statue "Umbrella Man" by the Hong Kong artist known as Milk, is set up at a pro-democracy protest site next to the central government offices in Hong Kong on Oct. 5, 2014. Alex Ogle—AFP/Getty ImagesA pro-democracy protester uses bamboo to strengthen a barricade blocking a major road in Hong Kong on Oct. 13, 2014. Alex Ogle—AFP/Getty ImagesDemonstrators walk past notes hanging on a wall outside the Central Government Offices in the Admiralty business district in Hong Kong on Oct. 17, 2014. Brent Lewin—Bloomberg/Getty ImagesTents set up by pro-democracy protesters are seen in an occupied area outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong's Admiralty district, Nov. 12, 2014.Vincent Yu—APA young Hong Kong couple who did not give their names wear gas masks as they pose for a wedding photographer prior to their marriage next to the tents used by pro-deocracy demonstrators at the Admiralty protest site on Nov. 14, 2014 in Hong Kong.Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesPolice face pro-democracy protesters on Nov. 19, 2014 outside the central government offices in the Admiralty district of Hong Kong. Alex Ogle—AFP/Getty ImagesPro-democracy activists join arms as they face off with police outside the Legislative Council building on Nov. 19, 2014 in Hong Kong. Chris McGrath—Getty ImagesPolice officers disperse pro-democracy protesters outside the Legislative Council building after clashes with pro-democracy activists on Nov. 19, 2014 in Hong Kong. Lam Yik Fei—Getty ImagesPro-democracy protesters climb up a wall as police officers disperse them outside the Legislative Council building after clashes with pro-democracy activists on Nov. 19, 2014 in Hong Kong. Lam Yik Fei—Getty ImagesPro-democracy activists sleep outside the Legislative Council building after protesters clashed with police on Nov. 19, 2014 in Hong Kong. Chris McGrath—Getty ImagesPolice arrest a pro-democracy protester on Lung Wo Road outside Hong Kong's Government complex on Nov. 30, 2014 in Hong Kong. Anthony Kwan—Getty ImagesA young student studies in a makeshift classroom set up on a main road at a major pro-democracy protest site in the Admiralty district of Hong Kong on Dec. 1, 2014. Anthony Wallace—AFP/Getty ImagesA demonstrator is taken away by policemen, at an area previously blocked by pro-democracy supporters, outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong, Dec. 11, 2014. Athit Perawongmetha—ReutersPro-democracy protesters remove signs placed up during the past two months of protests from the area around the protest camp but leave intact the notice "We are dreamers" in the Admiralty in Hong Kong on Dec. 11, 2014.Pedro Ugarte—AFP/Getty ImagesHong Kong police dismantle the remains of the pro-democracy protest camp in the Admiralty district of Hong Kong on Dec. 11, 2014. Pedro Ugarte—AFP/Getty Images
He told TIME last week “I expect to pay the price. What I mean is being an activist and involved in civil disobedience, we need to show that we will bear responsibility.”