DUBAI: A Hong Kong pro-democracy activist – who was sentenced to six years in prison for rioting in 2016 – appeared in court on Wednesday to appeal against his sentence. Edward Leung, 27, one of the leaders of a movement advocating independence from China, and two other activists received the harshest sentences handed down to pro-democracy leaders since the city returned to Chinese rule in 1997. Leung was sentenced in June 2018 for his role in a Feb. 8-9, 2016, outbreak of violence in the city’s working-class Mong Kok district. Several hundred masked protesters chanting for revolution gathered at Hong Kong’s High Court for the appeal hearing, hoping for his release. His appeal came amid intensified protests and clashes in Hong Kong – a former British colony – over government proposals to allow extradition to mainland China.