"Guangdong labour activist Meng Han sentenced to 1 year, 9 months", 3 Nov 2016

Labour activist Meng Han was sentenced to a prison term of one year and nine months on Thursday by a Chinese court for “gathering crowds to disrupt public order,” according to his defense lawyer. Meng pleaded guilty and said he would not appeal.

Meng, who was officially detained on January 8, worked at the Panyu Workers’ Centre in Guangdong. During his detention, Meng had limited access to legal representation and the length of his detention exceeded the legally allowable time limit by almost two months, according to… China Labour Bulletin (CLB), who said he was detained amid “blatant procedural violations.”

Meng was detained as part of a broader crackdown on Guangdong labour NGOs in December. Before the crackdown, the Panyu Workers’ Centre organised workers in several high-profile collective bargaining cases…Han Dongfang, the director of the CLB group, which worked with the Panyu Centre for five years, said “even if he pleads guilty, I won’t believe he does so out of his own will.”

Meng’s parents faced intimidation throughout his detention, according to CLB, including one instance where they were forced to move after unidentified thugs attacked their apartment door with an axe…