The Hong Kong High Court denied Lee Cheuk Yan’s bail application today (6 December 2022). The court ruled there was insufficient evidence to believe Lee would not continue to engage in acts endangering national security if he was granted bail.
Lee Cheuk Yan is the former general secretary of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Union (HKCTU) and former chairperson of the Hong Kong Alliance. Both HKCTU and the Hong Kong Alliance were disbanded last year.
Lee Cheuk Yan has been imprisoned for over 19 months since his arrest in April 2021. He has completed his sentences for multiple offences related to his peaceful participation in “unauthorised” assemblies.
Lee is now being held in custody for the Hong Kong Alliance case. He has been charged with subversion of state power under the Hong Kong National Security Law.
I saw my ideal crumbling but I will continue the struggle even though darkness is surrounding.”
Lee Cheuk Yan’s letter from behind bars
Lee was the chairperson of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance, which listed “ending authoritarian one-party rule” in China as one of its five operational goals.
Chow Hung-Tung, the former vice chairperson of the Hong Kong Alliance, who has also been detained and charged in the same case, said that the Hong Kong Secretary of Justice informed them that their case would be tried without a jury. She said the Hong Kong Secretary of Justice quoted reasons including the case involved “foreign factors” and “there is a real risk that the due administration of justice might be impaired.”
