At the end of May 2021 Lee Cheuk Yan, general secretary of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU), was sentenced to a further 18 months in prison for “inciting, organising and participating in an unauthorised assembly” on 1 October 2019. Hong Kong’s widely supported pro-democracy protests were deemed illegal by Beijing under the new National Security Law passed in June 2020.
Lee’s sentence was in addition to the 18-month sentence he received in April 2021 for another pro-democracy event in August 2019.
Lee Cheuk Yan was to serve the two sentences concurrently. Taking into account time already served, he was due to be imprisoned for 20 months in total.
Another nine democracy defenders were gives sentences of between 14 to 18 months.
Lee Cheuk Yan still faced another three charges for pro-democracy events in June 2020. His trial was set for 11 June.
