but edward leung has not been seen in public for months. he was convicted on writing charges and is serving a prison sentence. dw reports on attempt to get that conviction overturned. reporter: they are waiting to get occurrence of one of their heroes. edward leung, a local politician who has been sentenced to six years in prison for participating in a riot. he is seeking an appeal. >> edward leung is an inspiration of us and today's movement. >> wholeness to escalate the ways -- he told us to escalate the ways to turnout, and the government -- also, yes, they still acted negatively to us. but still they abolished the bill. reporter: the extradition bill that motivated the protests was withdrawn in september. the protests have morphed d inta broadeder antigovernrnment move. sosome of the protesters have turned increasingly violent. a long wait and a brief look at leung for his supporters that court. he became famous w when he was bannnned from rurunning in distt council elections because he advocated for hong kong's independence. a red line