The defendants, who include some of the city's most prominent activists, received sentences ranging from four years and two months to 10 years for "conspiracy to subvert the state power".
The group reflects a broad cross-section of Hong Kong's opposition. Aged between 27 and 68, they include democratically elected lawmakers and district councillors, as well as unionists, academics and others, with political stances ranging from modest reformists to radical localists.
Here is a brief look at some of the defendants and their jail terms:
- Joshua Wong: 4 years 8 months -
One of the most recognisable faces of Hong Kong's democracy movement, the 28-year-old has been a thorn in Beijing's side for more than a decade after shooting to prominence during student-led protests.
The subject of a Netflix documentary that depicted him in a David-and-Goliath-style fight, Wong had been jailed more than once for his involvement in various demonstrations, including huge and often violent democracy rallies that rocked Hong Kong in 2019.
Wong on Tuesday shouted "I love Hong Kong, bye bye!" to the packed courtroom right before he was led away by guards.
- Benny Tai: 10 years -
A devout Christian law professor, Tai was previously jailed for helping lead peaceful democracy protests in 2014 and lost his job because of that conviction.
A non-violence advocate, he has embraced civil disobedience and is seen by authorities as the "mastermind" behind the primary election that sparked this case.
His idea was to unite Hong Kong's disparate democracy groups into a single coalition that could win a majority for the first time.
Halfway through the campaign, Beijing's new security law was imposed and the primary was declared an illegal attempt to subvert the government.
Tai, 60, pleaded guilty and was given a one-third discount to his prison term.
- Leung Kwok-hung: 6 years 9 months -
Over the years, avid Marxist and democracy campaigner Leung -- better known as "Long Hair" -- has been in and out of prison for his activism, first against colonial Britain and then China's increasingly authoritarian rule.
A stalwart figure at the city's rallies, he could often be seen at the front of marches, leading chants or songs critical of Beijing through his megaphone.
He and his wife, fellow activist Chan Po-ying, founded the League of Social Democrats as a more radical wing of the pro-democracy camp, advocating street action.
Leung, 68, pleaded not guilty, telling the court last year that there was no crime to plead to. "Resisting tyranny is not a crime," he said at the time.
- Claudia Mo: 4 years 2 months -
A journalist turned lawmaker, Mo was working as a correspondent for Agence France-Presse when she covered the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, a moment she cites as sparking her political awakening.
She helped found the liberal Civic Party in 2006 and won a seat in 2012.
Known as "Auntie Mo" to her supporters, the 67-year-old was arrested before dawn in 2021 while at home with her husband, the British journalist and historian Philip Bowring.
She was denied bail due partially to her exchanges with Western media being deemed a security threat, and had pleaded guilty.
- Owen Chow: 7 years 9 months -
Nursing student Chow was on the frontlines of the 2019 protests before standing in the democracy camp's primary.
A proponent of localism, a movement that focuses on Hong Kong's local identity and autonomy and tends to reject associations with mainland China, Chow refused to pledge allegiance to Beijing when he submitted his nomination form for the legislature election.
Chow, 27, published a statement on Tuesday calling on Hong Kongers not to lose hope, adding, "I see hope because even though I am far from the day of release, we have now seen the end point".
- Gwyneth Ho: 7 years -
Gwyneth Ho, 34, became a hero to the democracy movement for her hours of live reporting on 2019's protests.
She captured footage of government supporters attacking democracy activists at a train station, broadcasting even as the assailants turned on her.
She tried to run in the 2020 legislature elections but was among a dozen candidates disqualified for their political views.
She pleaded not guilty.
In a Tuesday statement, Ho said her trial took place in a "comical", "1984-esque reality", saying authorities had applied the label of subversion on democratic transitions of power.
Despondency and defiance as 45 Hong Kong campaigners jailed
Hong Kong (AFP) Nov 19, 2024 -
Under grey skies outside the court where 45 Hong Kong democracy campaigners were jailed for subversion on Tuesday, supporters were both despondent and defiant as a trial encapsulating the city's erosion of political freedoms finally came to a close.
The case was the largest prosecuted under the city's 2020 national security law, imposed by Beijing after massive, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests the previous year.
The group -- made up of some of the city's best-known political opposition figures -- was arrested in early 2021, and many have been detained ever since.
"Hong Kong has fallen for three years and eight months, how can I feel?" said businessman Jerome Lau, who was among people queuing for public seating in the morning.
"Not even just three years and eight months, this has been going on from 2019 till now."
At dawn, more than 200 people were in line, umbrellas held up against the cold morning drizzle and surrounded by a heavy police presence.
"There are many sad moments for me, and I feel people are risking their lives for democracy here," said Sophie Gan, 34, a healthcare worker who lives in Germany.
"It's quite difficult" to have hope about Hong Kong's democratic future, she said.
The vice-chair of Hong Kong's last standing opposition party was outside court on Tuesday too.
Dickson Chau said that jailing the campaigners en masse would be "depressing" and would give "a clear political signal" that dissent from Beijing incurs a heavy price.
"I wonder if this would prompt more people to emigrate, or those who left wouldn't dare to come back to visit friends," he said.
Law student Jack said he believed already "people's passion for political participation has dissipated" in Hong Kong's increasingly restrictive environment.
- 'Restore faith through action' -
The 45 defendants were charged after they held an informal primary election in 2020 to better their chances of winning a pro-democracy legislative majority.
On Tuesday, only five spectators were allowed in the courtroom's public gallery as most spots were taken up by defendants, their family members and lawyers.
Judge Andrew Chan repeatedly asked for quiet as people in the courtroom reacted to the jail terms, ranging from four years and two months to 10 years.
"Today's sentencing is already suppression. No matter if the sentence is four years or ten years, it should not stand," activist Figo Chan told journalists afterwards.
Outside, the mother of one defendant silently held up a placard reading: "The righteous shall live, the wicked shall perish."
She was taken away in a police van within seconds, according to video footage from Hong Kong media.
Many defendants remained defiant too, releasing statements to coincide with the sentencing as they could not speak in court.
Former Hong Kong journalist Gwyneth Ho's statement included an impassioned plea to Hong Kongers: "Restore faith in democratic values through action".
Ho also called it "comical" for authorities to cast their informal poll as subversion.
"Following such logic, one may as well claim that democracies around the world suffer subversion attempts every 4 to 6 years," she wrote.
"In a 1984-esque reality, though, democratization -- or just calling for it -- amounts to subversion of state power."
Hong Kong authorities have defended their use of the security law as being necessary to restore order following the 2019 protests.
One of the convicted defendants, who requested anonymity to protect their family, earlier told AFP that the case was a "test of Hong Kong's rule of law and the city's future".
"I don't think this is the ending... As long as you're still alive, there is hope. The key is whether the spirit can be passed on."
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