HONG KONG — Forty-five ex-lawmakers and activists were sentenced to four to 10 years in prison Tuesday in Hong Kong’s biggest national security case under a Beijing-imposed law that crushed a once-thriving pro-democracy movement.

Defendants include politicians and activists who had hoped to win control of legislature, a plan Beijing found subversive.

A court in Hong Kong sentenced dozens of leading figures in its pro-democracy movement to lengthy prison sentences on Tuesday, the culmination of a landmark mass trial in the former British colony which the city’s government has used to crush opposition to China.

A Hong Kong court sentenced 45 pro-democracy advocates in a mass trial on Tuesday, marking the largest case yet brought under the city's draconian National Security Law.

A Hong Kong court has sentenced 45 pro-democracy activists to up to a decade behind bars after it ruled in a landmark legal case that they had broken a national security law implemented by Beijing.

The activists were arrested over a single day in 2021 and charged with “conspiracy to commit subversion” for taking part in an unofficial primary election.

Joshua Wong and Benny Tai were convicted for attempting subversion in a controversial national security trial.

The U.S. has criticized the trial and said the activists should be released as they had been "peacefully participating in political activities."

Prominent Activists Will Be Sentenced in Hong Kong's Biggest National Security Case HONG KONG (AP) — Dozens of prominent activists will be sentenced Tuesday in Hong Kong's biggest national security case,