Yuen received criticism from activists for his prosecution against protesters and activists, including the Department of Justice’s sentence review applications of 16 activists involved in two 2014 protests. In August 2017, Demosisto party chairman Nathan Law, secretary-general Joshua Wong and former Hong Kong Federation of Students secretary-general Alex Chow were jailed by the Court of Appeal of the High Court, the student leaders who stormed the government’s headquarters in 2014 in the which triggered the Occupy pro-democracy sit-ins. They were originally given community service orders and a suspended jail term in August 2016 by the Court of First Instance, but the Department of Justice decided for pursuing after stiffer penalties by applying for a review. It was reported that Yuen had overruled recommendations by top prosecutors that the government should not seek stiffer sentences. He declined to confirm or deny reports but rejected speculation about "political prosecutions".