Hong Kong's High Court on Tuesday jailed a leading pro-democracy activist for 10 years at the start of sentencing in a years-long national security trial that has damaged the city's once feisty pro-democracy movement and drawn global criticism.

A Hong Kong court sentenced pro-democracy leader Benny Tai to 10 years in prison, escalating the use of 2020’s national security laws. Tai was accused of leading a conspiracy to “overthrow” the government by blocking the budget through elected lawmakers.

Former legal academic Benny Tai Yiu-ting has been jailed for 10 years for conspiring to subvert state power after he initiated an unofficial legislative 'primary' election in the hope of bringing down the Hong Kong government four years ago.

A Hong Kong court has sentenced 45 pro-democracy activists to up to a decade behind bars after it ruled in a landmark legal case that they had broken a national security law implemented by Beijing.

Benny Tai was among 45 Hong Kong pro-democracy figures sentenced on Tuesday after being convicted of conspiring to commit subversion.

Forty-five people on Tuesday were sentenced from four years and two months to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit subversion in the city's

Hong Kong’s High Court on Tuesday sentenced 45 pro-democracy activists to jail terms of up to 10 years in a landmark national security trial seen as a stark demonstration of Beijing ’s tightening grip on the city.

James Pomfret is a Special Correspondent for Reuters covering politics and policy in Asia, with a specialization on China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. A two-time Pulitzer finalist, his