Hong Kong Jails 45 Pro-Democracy Campaigners In Largest Security Case

A Hong Kong court on Tuesday jailed all 45 defendants convicted in the city's largest trial under its sweeping national security law, with "mastermind" Benny Tai receiving the longest sentence of 10 years.

Tai's jail term is the longest yet handed out under the law, which was imposed by Beijing in 2020 to quash dissent after massive, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests the year before. 

The group, which included figures from across Hong Kong's once-diverse political spectrum, was charged after they held an informal poll in 2020 as part of a strategy to win a pro-democracy electoral majority. 

Along with Tai, pro-democracy politicians Au Nok-hin, Andrew Chiu, Ben Chung and Australian citizen Gordon Ng were singled out as organisers and received sentences of up to seven years three months. 

Forty-seven people were initially charged after they were arrested in January 2021, making this case the largest by number of defendants. 

Two were acquitted in May.

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