More than 40 of Hong Kong’s best known pro-democracy figures have been sentenced to prison terms of up to 10 years on subversion charges, in the biggest single blow to the city’s already shrinking political freedoms since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security crackdown four years ago.

A Hong Kong court sentenced 45 pro-democracy advocates in a mass trial on Tuesday, marking the largest case yet brought under the city's draconian National Security Law.

The activists were arrested over a single day in 2021 and charged with “conspiracy to commit subversion” for taking part in an unofficial primary election.