Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung was bailed and cleared to travel abroad on Monday, Sept. 9, 2019.

This was after a court acknowledged an administrative blunder by prosecution and defence lawyers that led to him being detained for a day.

What happened

Wong, 22, was arrested at Hong Kong International Airport on Sunday morning for the second time.

He was stopped from flying overseas to give talks.

The exact reason for his arrest was for breaching the bail conditions imposed after he was charged over an anti-government protest on June 21.

Bail terms wrong

But Eastern Court heard on Monday the apparent breach was not even correct.

It had been the result of inaccurate documentation of Wong’s bail terms.

This was despite the bail terms having been read out correctly in court at the bail hearing.

Instead of lifting the travel ban on Sept. 8 as the magistrate had agreed to, law enforcement read that Wong was only allowed to leave Hong Kong on Sept. 12 and stopped him at the border.

Lawyers accept blame

The Monday hearing that played out in Hong Kong court was almost surreal, as reported by the South China Morning Post.

Instead of a nefarious plot to keep Wong in Hong Kong, Principal Magistrate Bina Chainrai said to the lawyers: “Had you read the bail form you would have brought to my attention that the bail form was incorrect.”

She had said that the blunder which resulted in Wong's arrest was “quite clearly an oversight by the court”.

Public prosecutor Karen Ng Ka-yuet said: “I think both parties bear the responsibility for this matter.”

Wong’s defence counsel Jeffrey Tam Chun-kit apologised for failing to spot the error.

“I apologise on behalf of the whole legal team, including [Wong],” Tam said.

“The defendant didn’t have the intention to breach the bail terms.”

Wong allowed to travel

Chainrai then agreed to extend Wong’s bail and permitted him to leave Hong Kong for Germany and the United States from Sept. 9 to 23.

The magistrate had before that accepted the lawyers' admission of committing the lapses.

Wong has been charged with three counts, alleging that he organised, incited and took part in an unauthorised assembly during a siege of the police headquarters on June 21.

He was released on HK$10,000 bail after appearing in court for the first time on the day of his arrest on Aug. 30.

The condition was that he obey a curfew from 11pm to 7am, report to police once a week and steer clear of the Wan Chai headquarters.

He was also barred from leaving Hong Kong, with the exception of the two pre-arranged trips in September.

Wong had already been to Taiwan on Sept. 3.

Wong is currently seeking to boost global support for the Hong Kong democracy movement.

Wong joined Hongkongers to protest against the government the moment he was released from prison on June 17.