Hong Kong jails 45 pro-democracy activists

Hong Kong’s High Court on Tuesday jailed 45 pro-democracy activists for up to 10 years following a landmark national security trial that has damaged the city’s once feisty democracy movement and drawn criticism from the U.S. and other countries.

The activists were arrested and charged in 2021 with conspiracy to commit subversion under a Beijing-imposed national security law which carried sentences of up to life in prison.

Benny Tai, a former legal scholar identified in the judgement as a “mastermind” of the activists’ plans, was sentenced to 10 years in jail, the longest sentence so far under the 2020 national security law.
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 had they been elected.

Source: Reuters