In this issue: Lee Cheuk-yan awaits sentencing for Defending Truth and Memory | The Workers’ POV | International Solidarity | HK Labour Rights Newsflash
Sentencing for Defending Truth and Memory
Lee Cheuk-yan & Chow Hang-tung
At the mitigation hearing, Lee’s counsel stressed that the Hong Kong Alliance had promoted “end one-party rule” through peaceful, non-violent means, without any concrete plan for action. Chow refused to plead for leniency, declaring: “We should not spend a single day in prison” and “I would rather be a criminal than live a lifetime in lies.” The court said it would hand down the sentences within two weeks. The exact sentencing date has yet to be announced; further updates will follow.
Hong Kong Labour Rights Monitor condemned the verdict as not only a conviction of Lee and Chow, but also of “conscience and truth”.
The Workers’ POV
Justice Will Not Be Denied: The Real Judgement Is Yet to Come
After five gruelling years in detention, it came as no surprise that Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung were found guilty by Hong Kong’s national security court. The courtroom drama may be over, but the real judgement has yet to be delivered. One day, when history sits in judgement, it will not be Lee or Chow in the dock. It will be the dictators and their accomplices who imprisoned dissidents, silenced opposition and shed the blood of their own people.
Graphic: Pulse HK News
There Is a Particular Kind of Evil: Acting in the Name of National Security
A legally registered trade union is preparing to elect its new leadership. But before a single vote has been cast, Hong Kong’s security chief has publicly questioned its legitimacy and issued a chilling warning in the name of national security.
In today’s increasingly hostile political climate, such words carry consequences. They place pressure not only on those standing for election, but also on ordinary members simply considering whether to take part.
This is about more than one minister’s remarks. It is about the power behind them – and what happens when the machinery of the state is used to cast suspicion on those exercising their basic right to organise.
Graphic: Pulse HK News
International Solidarity
UN experts and international trade unions call for the immediate release of Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung
United Nations human rights experts and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) have issued coordinated calls for the immediate release of prominent activists Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, following their convictions for “inciting subversion of state power” in the landmark Alliance case.
UN Special Rapporteur Andrea Bolaños warned against the criminalisation of human rights work, emphasizing that peacefully preserving historical memory and seeking justice must never be treated as a crime, while expressing deep concern over pre-trial detention and fair trial guarantees.
Echoing these concerns, ITUC General Secretary Luc Triangle declared the verdict a devastating blow to fundamental liberties, warning that persecuting a lifelong trade unionist for peaceful democratic advocacy sets a perilous precedent for workers’ rights across Asia.
Global Trade Unions Rally to Demand Release of Hong Kong Activist Lee Cheuk-yan
A powerful wave of international solidarity has erupted following the national security convictions of Hong Kong Alliance leaders Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung. Found guilty of “inciting subversion of state power” and facing up to 10 years in prison, the prominent activists including Lee, the former general secretary of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, remain at the heart of a defining test for civil liberties in the territory.
In a striking show of global force, 90 trade unions spanning multiple sectors have joined forces to demand their immediate release. Major union bodies across the UK, France, Australia, and Spain have escalated diplomatic pressure, writing directly to foreign ministers and Chinese embassies to denounce the prosecutions and challenge the state crackdown.
HK Labour Rights Newsflash
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