HK court sentences 45 for illegal poll

Four masterminds and 41 key participants behind a subversive attempt by the opposition camp to paralyze the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government in 2020 were slapped with court sentences ranging from four to 10 years on Tuesday.

The 45 — including former law scholar Benny Tai Yiu-ting and prominent activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung — were among 47 who were charged with violating Hong Kong's National Security Law for their roles in promoting an illegal poll orchestrated by the opposition camp to win a majority in the Legislative Council election, with the goal of eventually paralyzing the HKSAR government. They were convicted of conspiracy to subvert State power in May, with two people acquitted of the charge.

In its 82-page judgment handed down on Tuesday, the court said Tai "was not only the initiator" of the primary election, but also "an organizer" of it.