2015: Li Yuhan represented Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Yu as the 709 Crackdown unfolded.

6 June 2016: Upon learning that some families members of victims of 709 Crackdown and four defence lawyers were forcibly taken by the police to Tianjin whilst requesting to see Wang Quanzhang, Li Yuhan rushed to Tianjin overnight. Along with other lawyers who went to show support, she spent the entire night in the police station lobby, comforting and inspiring other lawyers and family members.

8 October 2017: Li Yuhan received a call from an officer claiming to be from the Shenyang Public Security Bureau, asking her to go to a police station the next day to discuss certain matters.

9 October 2017: Li Yuhan was taken away by police officers in Shenyang. Li Yuhan was picked up by a police car and dropped off near a bus stop opposite the Public Security Bureau’s reception hall. As she was about to cross the road, four or five unidentified individuals rushed over, snatched her bag, handcuffed her from behind, and forced her into a van, which took her to the Heping District North Market Police Station. The kidnappers refused to show identification and also refused to unlock the handcuffs, even whilst she used the bathroom. When Li Yuhan refused to disclose her phone password, one of the kidnappers became enraged, ordering her to be dragged back and forth between three rooms whilst declaring that they could kill her and claim it was due to her pre-existing health conditions.
On that day, Li Yuhan's brother received a text message from her stating that she was being taken away for questioning by the police of the Heping Branch of the Shenyang Public Security Bureau. Li Yuhan's whereabouts became unknown after that. It was only subsequently confirmed in November 2017 that she was under criminal detention by the Shenyang Public Security Bureau. However, the Shenyang Public Security Bureau did not explain under what specific charges Li Yuhan was detained.

1 November 2017: Lawyer Wang Qiushi faced obstacles when he tried to meet with Li Yuhan in Shenyang. In the early morning, Wang Qiushi arrived in Shenyang, accompanied by family members of victims of the 709 Crackdown, Li Wenzu and Wang Qiaoling, to assess Li Yuhan’s situation. He first tried to contact an officer at Shenyang Public Security Bureau's Heping Branch Criminal Police Team. However, lawyer Wang Qiushi and others were unable to connect with the responsible public security officer and therefore could not obtain the authorisation needed for the visit.

10 November 2017: Beijing lawyer Lin Qilei succeeded in meeting Li Yuhan, and it was learnt that Li Yuhan was detained on “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” as well as providing Li Yuhan the opportunity to reveal what had happened to her up to this point. Li Yuhan revealed that after her arrest she was taken to the hospital for an examination after the police saw her medical reports. She remained handcuffed throughout; the bruises were present even during the meeting with lawyer Lin Qilei – one month after her firstly being detained. For the first week of detention, Li Yuhan was only given aspirin to control her symptoms, and it was only after negotiations between the detention centre and the case-handling unit that she was given other medications. When asked about the grounds for detaining her, Li Yuhan revealed that the police officers themselves were also unclear.

15 November 2017: The arrest of Li Yuhan was approved despite lawyer Lin Qilei’s submission of legal opinion against Li Yuhan’s approval of arrest on 10 November 2017.

30 November 2017: Lawyer Lin Qilei went to Shenyang City Detention Centre for a second time to meet with Li Yuhan. During the meeting, Li was emotionally agitated and remarked that she “almost didn't get to see you.” As Li Yuhan described, her health conditions were significantly deteriorating, and she was having difficulty walking. Since her formal arrest on 15 November, her detention conditions worsened. Police officers tend to interrogate her on her designated bathing days. For instance, having just bathed with warm water and soap, the basin of warm water for her was deliberately emptied. A female guard instructed cellmates to rinse her off with a basin of cold water, causing her to shiver until early hours in the morning. At one point, she fainted and called out for medical help, but no medical staff ever came to check on her. The same female guard later mocked Li by saying, “The doctor didn't come, but you didn't die, did you?” and threatened to further restrain her if she called for help again.
Due to the cold-water treatment and being a senior citizen, Li Yuhan was bedridden for several days. A few days later, a few individuals took Li Yuhan to Shenyang City's First Hospital for a check-up. Instead of the specialist treatment she required, Li Yuhan was given a cursory examination in the emergency room. Throughout, her requests for water and food were ignored. On the way back to the detention centre, her attendants acted brutally, roughly shoving a physically weakened Li through the entrance, almost causing her to fall.

10 December 2017: On International Human Rights Day, defence lawyers for Li Yuhan issued a “Letter of Accusation and Condemnation” to the Shenyang City Procuratorate, denouncing the torture that Li Yuhan endured from the moment of her detention. It was reported that Li Yuhan’s defence lawyers Li Baiguang and Lin Qilei jointly sent the complaint, condemning the inhumane treatment and abuse that Li Yuhan experienced since her violent arrest on 9 October 2017 and throughout her detention.

February 2018: Li Yuhan carried out a hunger strike for nearly a week in protest of her arrest due to political suppression, as well as the authorities' extension of her detention period under the pretext of "discovering new criminal facts" and the failure to provide her with essential medication in a timely manner.

July 2018: On the third anniversary of the 709 Crackdown, the families of those involved in the 709 Crackdown, including Li Wenzu, Wang Qiaoling, and Liu Ermin, jointly initiated a "Thanksgiving Journey" to visit those who helped with the victims of the 709 Crackdown. Their first stop was to Li Yuhan. They deposited some money and provided some clothes to Li Yuhan at the Shenyang Detention Centre. The family expressed hope that Li Yuhan would see the signatures they left when making deposits, serving as comfort and encouragement for her whilst she remains in detention.

August 2018: Li Yuhan was found using crutches when her lawyer met her. She took a fall whilst reaching for a stool in the restroom, causing a large bruise on her left chest. Additionally, she experienced pain in her waist.

April 2019: Li Yuhan’s case was inexplicably postponed. It was reported that 9 April 2019 was supposed to be the day of the court hearing for Li Yuhan. The judge responsible for Li Yuhan’s case previously told Li Yuhan’s brother over the phone that, “the leadership has said that the case is not going to court, and also family members can no longer see the judge.” Since then, there have been no updates regarding Li Yuhan’s case and the trial.

October 2020: As Li Yuhan had been detained for 3 years, lawyer Lin Qilei visited Li Yuhan. It was revealed that Li Yuhan was additionally prosecuted on a charge of fraud, in addition to the charge of picking quarrels and provoking troubles. According to lawyer Lin Qilei, Li Yuhan’s case hearing was initially scheduled to take place in June 2019. However, the hearing was cancelled on the day it was supposed to take place. Neither Li Yuhan nor himself or other defence lawyers had received any response to their applications for Li Yuhan’s bail, despite the unduly long detention of Li Yuhan.

10 December 2020: Li Yuhan was named as a recipient of the German Human Rights and Rule of Law Award 2020. The award was accepted on her behalf by Wang Yu. As said by Wang Yu during the reception of the award, according to Li Yuhan's acting lawyers, during her period of detention the authorities continuously pressured her to plead guilty, but Li Yuhan insisted that she was not guilty of the charge. Therefore, the case remained undecided. Wang Quanzhang, a Chinese human rights lawyer, stated that the annual German Human Rights and Rule of Law Award was an affirmation from the international community of her relentless struggle: “It is admirable that Li Yuhan was able to stand up in the tense atmosphere during the 709 Incident and serve as a defence lawyer for detained lawyers, showing the indomitable spirit of human rights lawyers.”
 
March 2021: In March 2021, Li Yuhan told a visiting lawyer that a judge from the District Court in Shenyang interrogated her in January 2021, asking her to plead guilty. She firmly refused and told the judge that the two charges against her were reprisals for her petitioning activities.
It was revealed in October 2022, that in October 2021, the trial of Li Yuhan took place in a secret trial (see below).

October 2022: In October 2022, after Li Yuhan was detained for 5 years, lawyer Lin Qilei visited Li Yuhan in Shenyang detention centre. Li’s health condition was very poor. She could not walk due to severe knee pain and needed to use crutches. She also suffered from high blood pressure, heart problems, severe tinnitus, and poor vision. It was also revealed after this meeting that Li Yuhan was secretly tried back in October 2021, nearly one year before. Yet, there was no verdict given to her after the trial. Li Yuhan has remained indefinitely imprisoned.

September 2022: In September 2022, The 29 Principles released a statement calling for the immediate release of Li Yuhan. This was followed, in November 2022, by another a joint statement calling for the release of Li Yuhan signed by a group of human rights organisations and lawyers' groups, including The 29 Principles. The joint statement highlighted the arbitrary detention that Li Yuhan had suffered, as well as the effect on her health due to the prolonged detention, particularly as a senior citizen.

March 2023: Chongqing lawyer He Wei visited Li Yuhan. It was found that Li Yuhan was in a more weakened and ill state, causing great concern. After the meeting, considering Li Yuhan’s health and the procedural issues of extended detention, a meeting was arranged with the leaders of the detention centre and the prosecutor's office, as well as communication with the court handling the case. The requests included arranging another external medical examination and possible surgery for Li Yuhan based on her health condition, providing necessary daily care, and urging the prosecutor's office to perform judicial supervision and expedite the case due to prolonged detention. Written complaints to the prosecutor's office were also submitted, for the purpose of making the court review the necessity of the prolonged detention and provide explanations.

September 2023: before the sixth year of Li Yuhan’s indefinite detention, human rights experts from the UN Human Rights Office released a communication to China on the situation of Li Yuhan, stating that the seriously overdue detention of Li Yuhan amounted to an arbitrary detention. Human rights experts expressly noted the apparent violations of due process guarantees in Li Yuhan's case, including: the denial of her access to lawyers of her own choosing; the failure to promptly inform her of the charges she faced; and the failure to guarantee Li Yuhan a trial within a reasonable time. As indicated in the communication, their concerns as to the extremely extensive delays in her case are compounded by the reported ill-treatment to which Li Yuhan has been subjected while detained, raising serious concerns as to her state of health."