A former student leader jailed for rioting in the city’s legislature on the anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to China during the 2019 protests has been released from prison after serving her sentence.

Althea Suen, a former head of the University of Hong Kong’s students’ union, walked out of the Lo Wu Correctional Institution at around 10.30 on Wednesday morning, welcomed by her father and friends.

“Thank you so much, everyone. I’m grateful to finally be out,” she said.

Suen was among 12 people who were jailed for up to seven years over the storming of the Legislative Council on July 1, 2019, at the height of the pro-democracy protests that roiled the city that summer.

‘The real crime’

She was sentenced to four years and nine months behind bars in March 2024 after pleading guilty.

In a mitigation hearing a month before the sentencing, she said: “In the eyes of the regime, the real crime is the pursuit of democracy, freedom, and human rights.”

She added that she hoped to regain her freedom soon and “to continue living in truth, to lead an honest and righteous life.”

During the sentencing, District Court deputy judge Li Chi-ho said that the storming of the legislature symbolised a challenge to the Hong Kong government.

He also said that protesters committed “insulting and provocative” acts such as tearing up copies of Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law, and displaying colonial-era flags.

The former student leader sought an appeal against her sentence, but her bid was dismissed by the court in March.

The storming of the legislature marked a watershed moment in the months-long protests and unrest. That night, protesters occupied the government building, smashing windows and spray-painting slogans on the walls.

Among those who were convicted and jailed in the same case were activist Ventus Lau and actor Gregory Wong, both of whom are still in prison.

Lau, who was jailed four and a half years over the rioting case, was also jailed for another four years and five months in a subversion case under the Beijing-imposed national security law. Wong, the actor, was jailed for six years and two months.