Hong Kong democracy leaders convicted in most significant verdicts since Beijing’s national security crackdown

Hong Kong CNN —

More than a dozen of Hong Kong’s leading democracy figures were found guilty Thursday on subversion charges, following the largest national security trial since Beijing’s sweeping crackdown on the once free-wheeling city.

The 14 activists and politicians were convicted of “conspiracy to commit subversion” for their roles in holding an unofficial primary election in 2020 to decide who should contest city lawmaker elections.

They were among 47 defendants in what became known as the trial of the “Hong Kong 47” – a closely watched, landmark prosecution under a national security law Beijing imposed on the city in the wake of mass anti-government protests the previous year.

Those on trial represented a broad swathe of Hong Kong’s now dismantled democracy movement and most pleaded guilty during the prosecution process.

But 16 activists and politicians decided to fight the charges, opting for a full trial which lasted for more than a year. Two were acquitted on Thursday and walked free from the court. The remaining 45 now await sentencing at a later date and could face a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

Thursday’s verdict offers one of the clearest windows into how the national security law has rewritten the city’s political landscape, with a once-permitted pro-democracy opposition now decimated and dissent all but erased.

The Hong Kong and Beijing governments have repeatedly denied the national security law is suppressing freedoms, arguing it has ended chaos and “restored stability” to the city.

In an executive summary outlining the convictions, a panel of judges ruled the prosecution had proved the defendants were engaged in a conspiracy to disrupt the government’s “duties and functions … with a