45 Hong Kong Democrats sentenced to 4 to 10 years in prison...the largest national security law case

A Hong Kong court has sentenced 45 democratic figures to prison in the largest national security law trial.

Hong Kong's high court sentenced 45 former opposition lawmakers and pro-democracy activists to four to 10 years in prison, according to local media.

They were indicted the following year for holding informal primaries to elect candidates from the democratic camp ahead of the 2020 Hong Kong legislative council elections.

Benny Tai, a former professor at Hong Kong University who the court found to be the main culprit behind the plot to overthrow the state, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Joshua Wong, a leading democratic activist, was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison.

Hong Kong's national security law, enacted by the Chinese government in the wake of large anti-government protests in 2019, provides a maximum sentence of life in prison for four crimes: national division, subversion, terrorist activity and collusion with foreign forces.

Professor Tai and Wong are already serving time for other anti-government activities.

During the sentence, more than 300 family members and opposition figures gathered in front of the court to appeal that the trial was unfair.

"Defendants were aggressively charged and jailed for participating peacefully in normal political activities protected under Hong Kong's basic laws," the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong said in a statement.