A magistrate has tacked another month onto the jail time being served by the former leader of an umbrella group behind many of Hong Kong’s biggest protests in recent years after he was found guilty of taking part in a fifth unauthorised assembly.

Figo Chan Ho-wun, ex-convenor of the now-disbanded Civil Human Rights Front, pleaded guilty at Eastern Court on Tuesday to knowingly taking part in an illegal rally held in September 2019 as the anti-government movement was gaining pace.

“Dare to act and dare to admit,’ Chan said in the dock. “I plead guilty.”

Protesters rally in Causeway Bay on September 15, 2019.

Magistrate Daniel Tang Siu-hung sentenced the 25-year-old to three months behind bars, with one month to be served consecutively to the activist’s current overall jail term of 21 months, handed down in four previous cases of taking part in an illegal rally.

“Thank you, your honour,” the defendant said upon hearing the verdict.

On Tuesday, Chan admitted to joining the illegal march on September 15, 2019, after the front failed to obtain police permission for a rally calling for universal suffrage. He wore a shirt emblazoned with the phrase “civil disobedience” written in Chinese and marched with thousands of others from Causeway Bay to Central over the course of an hour. He chanted slogans through a microphone while holding up a copy of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution.

Chan later told the media he was exercising his right to protest as guaranteed by the Basic Law and he was prepared to go to jail.

“Even if I am the only one being arrested and charged, I believe the Hong Kong people will still come out,” he said.

Prosecutor Jennifer Tsui Sin-chi said the September 15 rally seriously disrupted traffic on Hong Kong Island and was a direct cause of damage to 22 sets of traffic lights along the protest route.

Chan’s counsel, Anson Wong Yu-yat, urged the court to disregard the violence that took place during the rally when determining the sentence, saying the activist should not be held liable for acts in which he was not individually involved.

“Not only had the defendant played no part in any violence or incitement of violence, he had urged others to express their demands in a peaceful and rational manner,” Wong said.

Tang started with six months’ jail and reduced it by half to reflect Chan’s guilty plea and two-year delay between the offence and the trial.

“The defendant did not take part in any violence. Still, he had blatantly called for others to join the unauthorised assembly,” Tang said.

The magistrate refused to allow all three months to be served concurrently, noting Chan had committed several similar offences.