Lee Cheuk Yan, General Secretary of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, has been sentenced by a Hong Kong court
to 18 months in prison for organising and participating in pro-democracy events in August 2019. Four other democracy defenders also received prison sentences and five more were handed suspended sentences.
Before the sentencing, Lee Cheuk Yan said: “I am ready to face the penalty and sentences. I am proud I can walk with the
people of Hong Kong on the road to democracy. I want to dedicate the song ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ to the Hong Kong
people. We will walk together even in darkness with hope in our heart.”
Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary, said: “Lee Cheuk Yan and the others jailed are political prisoners of China’s
puppet regime in Hong Kong, which is crushing fundamental freedoms to satisfy its Beijing paymasters. The international
trade union movement will continue to stand by the democracy movement in Hong Kong.”