Via Europe Solidaire

On Friday 16 April, between 8 and 18 months in prison were given to five prominent Hong Kong opponents for their involvement in the mass protests that took place on 18 and 31 August 2019 in Hong Kong.

They included:
 Lee Cheuk-yan, General Secretary of the Labour union center HKCTU (14 months),
 Leung Kwok-hung (nicknamed “Long Hair”) of the League of Social Democrats (18 months).
Five other people received similar suspended sentences.

And the repression does not stop there. Another trial is scheduled to take place soon against 47 prominent figures of the social and political opposition. Among them:
 Carol Ng, president of the HKCTU, 
 Winnie Yu, president of the HAEA union of public hospital staff, 
 “Long Hair”, already condemned on 16 April.
Most of them have been in pre-trial detention since 28 February. This time, the sentences can go up to life imprisonment.

In addition, there are more than 2,500 legal proceedings underway, 720 of which can also result in life imprisonment.

As our comrade Lee Cheuk-yan said in front of the judges, “the right of people to demonstrate peacefully is a fundamental right”.
“Freedom of expression through speech or demonstration is the only way for the weak and oppressed to rectify the wrongs done to them”.

To stop this repressive escalation, international solidarity is more than ever necessary.

Paris, 19 April 2021