Zero tolerance for instigation under banner of 'democracy'

A court in Hong Kong has sentenced 45 anti-China instigators to imprisonment for "conspiracy to subvert the state power". Benny Tai Yiu-ting was sentenced to 10 years in prison and the others to various terms of imprisonment.

The High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region delivered the sentence after a hearing at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts on Tuesday. This is the first time the Hong Kong SAR has handled a case involving subversion of State power.

In January 2021, Hong Kong police arrested more than 50 people under the national security law in Hong Kong on the suspicion of organizing or participating in the illegal "primary elections" of the Legislative Council in 2020. Among them, 47 were prosecuted by the Department of Justice of the HKSAR government, including Benny Tai and some former lawmakers.