HONG KONG - Hong Kong student leader Joshua Wong was found guilty Thursday of participating in a protest that led to the city's mass pro-democracy rallies, in a case he has slammed as political persecution.
Student leaders (L to R) Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow speak to the media before facing a court verdict over charges related to a protest leading up to pro-democracy rallies in 2014
Wong was convicted for taking part in an unlawful assembly after he and other students climbed into a Hong Kong government complex forecourt known as Civic Square on September 26, 2014.
That protest triggered wider rallies that exploded two days later when police fired tear gas to disperse crowds.
The verdict could see Wong jailed for up to five years.
Fellow student leaders Alex Chow and Nathan Law were also convicted over the same protest Thursday -- Chow for taking part and Law for inciting others to do so.
All three were released on bail and are due back in court on August 15 for sentencing.
Teenage Wong, now 19, was at the forefront of the "Umbrella Movement" which brought parts of the semi-autonomous city to a standstill for more than two months in 2014 as residents called on Beijing to allow fully free elections of future leaders.
Wong has been in and out of court hearings for the past year after being charged with multiple offences linked to various protest actions.
He was acquitted in June over an anti-China protest in the first of a series of cases against him to reach a verdict.