Three prominent young leaders of Hong Kong's democracy movement were sentenced Thursday to six to eight months in prison, a severe setback for the semiautonomous Chinese city in its struggle for greater political freedom under Communist Party rule. Joshua Wong, the face of huge street demonstrations in 2014 for freer elections of Hong Kong's leader, was sentenced to six months in prison. Two fellow protest leaders, Nathan Law and Alex Chow, were given eight and seven months, respectively. The sentences risked casting the three young men as Hong Kong's first prisoners of conscience, undermining the city's reputation as a haven of civil liberties with special status in China. Originally sentenced to community service and a suspended jail term, the three activists were given the immediate prison sentences by an appeals court after the Beijing-backed local government successfully pushed for harsher punishments. By law, the prison terms left them ineligible for public office for five years. Continue reading the main story RELATED COVERAGE Ruling Threatens Hong Kong's Independence From China JULY 14, 2017 Xi Delivers Tough Speech on Hong Kong, as Protests Mark Handover Anniversary JULY 1, 2017 Young People Have Their Say About the Future of Hong Kong JUNE 30, 2017 Why China Is Intervening in Hong Kong's Legislature NOV. 4, 2016 "The government wanted to stop us from running in elections, and directly suppress our movement," Mr. Wong said in an interview before the decision on Thursday afternoon. "There's no longer rule of law in Hong Kong, it's rule by law." In a statement issued in the morning, the Hong Kong Department of Justice defended its appeal for tougher sentencing as its legal right, adding that the three protest leaders "were convicted not because they exercised their civil liberties but because their relevant conduct in the protest broke the law." Suzanne Pepper, a Hong Kong-based scholar of Chinese politics, said the new sentences were "part of a larger pushback by Beijing against Hong Kong's democracy movement." "It's a two-part strategy aimed at targeting the leaders, making an example of them, showing the cost for all who might want to follow in their footsteps and offering rewards to all who settle down," she said in an email. "Sort of a combined carrots-and-sticks strategy, plus "killing the chicken to frighten the monkeys.'" Mr. Wong and Mr. Chow were found guilty last year of unlawful assembly, while Mr. Law was found guilty of inciting people to take part in the assembly. The charges stemmed from the storming of a fenced government square in 2014 to protest Beijing's strict limits on proposed reforms to the way Hong Kong elects its top leader, or chief executive. The protests and the police response cascaded into weeks of sit-ins, later known as the Umbrella Movement, that paralyzed several major streets across Hong Kong but failed to win the protesters any political concessions. The former British colony returned to Chinese rule 20 years ago under a "one country, two systems" governing principle that promised a high degree of autonomy. Yet the public's trust in the political firewall has eroded as the Chinese authorities appear ever more assertive in exercising their will in the city. The sentencing of the three protest leaders capped an emotional week for the city's embattled democracy activists, with one Democratic Party member being accused on Tuesday of falsifying an account of abduction and torture by Chinese agents. On Wednesday, the night before the sentencing, others wept for Mr. Law, as he and Mr. Wong addressed hundreds of supporters gathered outside the square where they protested in 2014. "Do not give up on Hong Kong. We can still win," said Mr. Wong, wearing the same T-shirt he did nearly three years ago when he, then 17, climbed over a fence into the square. "I don't know what will happen in the next six to 12 months, but I hope in 2018, when we are freed, we'll see a Hong Kong with hope." Update: 24 October 2017 Hong Kong's highest court granted bail to two prominent young pro-democracy activists, Joshua Wong and Nathan Law, on Tuesday pending an appeal over their jail terms for unlawful assembly linked to the city's mass pro-democracy protests in 2014. Hong Kong's appeals court jailed Wong, 21, Law, 24 and Alex Chow, 27, leaders of the Chinese-ruled city's democracy movement, in August. Their sentencing came as a blow to the youth-led push for universal suffrage and prompted accusations of political interference. Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma, who heads the Court of Final Appeal, granted Wong and Law bail of HK$50,000 ($6,408) each while they appeal against their respective six-month and eight-month jail terms. Chow did not apply for bail. Mr. Ma said a Court of Final Appeal hearing would be held on Nov. 7 to consider the trio's applications for appeal. The next legal steps will likely be scrutinized closely, with the jailing having shaken confidence in Hong Kong's vaunted rule of law.