45 pro-democracy activists get4to 10Vrjail terms in HK

Legalscholar Benny Tai received the longestsentence of 10 years

- ASSOCIATED PRESS

Forty-five ex-lawmakers and activists were sentenced to four to 10 years in prison Tuesday in Hong Kong's biggest national security case undera Beijing-imposed law that crushed a once-thriving pro-democracy movement. They were prosecuted under the 2020 national security law for their roles in an unofficial primary election. Prosecutors said their aim was to paralyze Hong Kong's government and force the city's leader to resign by aiming to win a legislative majority and using it to block government budgets indiscriminately. A Hong Kong court convicted 45 of 47 defendants of conspiracy to commit subversion for organizing or participating in an unofficial primary election for the city legislature in 2020. Most ofthe defen