Guilty findings under the Beijing-imposed national security law have led to jail terms of up to 10 years for 45 pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, Reuters reports.
Their trial has been condemned by Britain and the United States, among other Western nations.
Prominent pro-democracy activists Benny Tai and Joshua Wong were among the so-called Hong Kong 47 group of activists and lawmakers involved in a plan to pick opposition candidates for local elections in 2020. Tai received a10-year sentence while Wong received more than four years.
Most of the group were found guilty of conspiring to attempt subversion, while two were acquitted.
According to the BBC, their trial marked the largest use of the harsh national security law (NSL) which China imposed on Hong Kong shortly after the city’s explosive pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Reuters reports that the Chinese and Hong Kong governments said the national security laws were necessary to restore order after mass pro-democracy protests in 2019, and the democrats have been treated in accordance with local laws.
The charges related to the organising of an unofficial “primary election” in 2020 to select the best candidates for an upcoming legislative election. The activists were accused by prosecutors of plotting to paralyse the government by engaging in potentially disruptive acts if they were elected.
Roxie Hogue of the US consulate in Hong Kong is quoted as saying that the US government condemned “the continuous prosecution of individuals in Hong Kong who are expressing their political views, exercising their freedom of speech”.
Britain, which handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, said the security law had been used to curb dissent and freedom.
[Image: Hong Kong protests in 2019 Studio Incendo, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79933246]