<p class="title">Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal on Friday quashed jail sentences for 13 pro-democracy activists who stormed the city's legislative council in a dramatic 2014 protest.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The group were earlier sentenced to between eight and 13 months after the government successfully sought to overturn a previous punishment of community service and seek harsher terms.</p>.<p class="bodytext">All 13 were already on bail pending their appeal.</p>.<p class="bodytext">They included democracy activists, student leaders and villagers from Hong Kong's rural northeast who had been convicted of unlawful assembly for forcing their way into the territory's legislature.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The group was part of a larger protest against a government plan to redevelop the area for housing, which they said was being waved through without proper consultation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Their actions came weeks before the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement mass rallies which brought parts of Hong Kong to a standstill for more than two months.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Activists said they were "happy and excited" about the result and denied using violence in the protest.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We had no intention at all to hurt anybody," said Raphael Wong, one of the 13 protesters.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong faced more restrictions and demonstrators would have to be "well-disciplined" in future, he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It was the second time this year that the city's highest court freed democracy activists who had been jailed after their lighter original sentences were increased on appeal from the government.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In February, three leaders of the Umbrella Movement including student activist Joshua Wong won an appeal against their jail terms in a case seen as a test of the independence of the city's judiciary.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hong Kong has been governed under a "one country, two systems" arrangement since 1997, when Britain handed the territory back to China.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The deal allows citizens rights unseen on the mainland, including freedom of speech and an independent judiciary.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But there are growing concerns that the semi-autonomous city's rights are under threat as Beijing tightens its grip.</p>
<p class="title">Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal on Friday quashed jail sentences for 13 pro-democracy activists who stormed the city's legislative council in a dramatic 2014 protest.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The group were earlier sentenced to between eight and 13 months after the government successfully sought to overturn a previous punishment of community service and seek harsher terms.</p>.<p class="bodytext">All 13 were already on bail pending their appeal.</p>.<p class="bodytext">They included democracy activists, student leaders and villagers from Hong Kong's rural northeast who had been convicted of unlawful assembly for forcing their way into the territory's legislature.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The group was part of a larger protest against a government plan to redevelop the area for housing, which they said was being waved through without proper consultation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Their actions came weeks before the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement mass rallies which brought parts of Hong Kong to a standstill for more than two months.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Activists said they were "happy and excited" about the result and denied using violence in the protest.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We had no intention at all to hurt anybody," said Raphael Wong, one of the 13 protesters.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong faced more restrictions and demonstrators would have to be "well-disciplined" in future, he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It was the second time this year that the city's highest court freed democracy activists who had been jailed after their lighter original sentences were increased on appeal from the government.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In February, three leaders of the Umbrella Movement including student activist Joshua Wong won an appeal against their jail terms in a case seen as a test of the independence of the city's judiciary.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hong Kong has been governed under a "one country, two systems" arrangement since 1997, when Britain handed the territory back to China.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The deal allows citizens rights unseen on the mainland, including freedom of speech and an independent judiciary.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But there are growing concerns that the semi-autonomous city's rights are under threat as Beijing tightens its grip.</p>