Hong Kong has been preparing for months for the outcome of the territory’s biggest national security trial.

Forty-five pro-democracy activists were sentenced to prison terms ranging from four to ten years.

They were charged with conspiracy to commit subversion after holding unofficial primary elections in Hong Kong in 2020. They were arrested in 2021.

Hong Kong authorities say the defendants were trying to overthrow the territory’s government.

Democracy activist Benny Tai received the longest sentence of ten years. He became the face of the movement when thousands of protesters took to the streets of the city during the “Umbrella Movement” demonstrations.

However, Hong Kong officials accused him of being behind the election rigging plan to select candidates.

Tai pleaded guilty, his lawyers argued that he believed his electoral plan was permitted by the city’s Basic Law.

Another prominent activist, Joshua Wong, received a sentence of more than four years.

Wong became one of the leading figures in the protests. His activism began at age 15 when he led a huge rally against a government plan to change the school curriculum.

Then, in 2019, Hong Kong erupted in protests after the city government proposed a bill that would allow extradition to mainland China. It peaked in June 2019, when Amnesty International reported that up to two million people marched in the streets, paralyzing parts of Hong Kong’s business district.

The extradition bill was later dropped, but it sparked a movement demanding political change and the freedom to choose its own leaders in Hong Kong.

China’s central government called the protests “riots” that could not continue.

Hong Kong introduced a national security law following the protests.

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The US called the trial “politically motivated”.

Dozens of the accused’s family and friends awaited the verdict outside West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court.

British citizen and media mogul Jimmy Lai is due to testify on Wednesday.

Meeting on the sidelines of the G20 in Brazil, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Chinese President Xi Jinping he was concerned about Lai’s health.

He faces charges of fraud and the protests of 2019. He has also been accused of sedition and collusion with foreign forces.