Hong Kong jails all 45 pro-democracy activists in largest security case

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Academic Benny Tai sentenced to 10 years, while others receive sentences of between four and seven years.

Taipei, Taiwan – A Hong Kong court has sentenced a leading pro-democracy advocate to 10 years in prison and handed dozens of other activists jail terms of between four and seven years in the Chinese territory’s largest national security case.

Benny Tai, a legal scholar who played a leading role in Hong Kong’s 2019 antigovernment protests, was handed the lengthy sentence on Tuesday after prosecutors cast him as the “organiser” of a conspiracy by pro-democracy activists and politicians dating back to July 2020.

Tai and 44 others were previously found guilty of offences related to organising an official primary election to choose pro-democracy candidates for the city’s legislature.

The would-be legislators had hoped to vote down the city’s budget and force the city’s leader to dissolve the legislature.

Prosecutors alleged that the group plotted to “overthrow” the government.

Many of those arrested have been on remand since 2021, when they were first charged, due to numerous legal delays and the disruption caused by COVID-19.

Out of 47 defendants, 31 pleaded guilty.

In May, a court found 14 of the remaining activists guilty of subversion and acquitted two others, former district councillors Laurence Lau and Lee Yue-shu.

Under Hong Kong’s national security laws introduced in 2020, defendants charged as “primary offenders” face a maximum punishment of life imprisonment, while lower-level offenders and “other participants” face sentences of between three and five years and up to three years, respectively.