DHAKA: The teenage face of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, 18-year-old Joshua Wong, slammed the authorities Thursday in a court appearance linked to mass protests which brought parts of the city to a standstill for months.

Wong was one of 29 activists at the High Court for a preliminary hearing on possible criminal contempt charges for blocking the police clearance of one of the main protest camps in November.

China has pledged that voters in Hong Kong can elect the city’s next chief executive in 2017 - the first time there has ever been a public vote. But it insists that only two or three candidates can stand and that they will be vetted by a loyalist committee, a decision that sparked protests which ended last month.

Authorities say the demonstrations were illegal and police have vowed to target the ‘principal instigators’ in an ongoing investigation.

BDST: 1904 HRS, JAN 08, 2015