Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, were each convicted last month of inciting others to subvert state power, while Albert Ho, 74, pleaded guilty in January. On Friday, the court sentenced Lee to seven years, Chow to seven years and three months, and Ho to five years.
As the court session began, Chow and Lee stood up and smiled at the public gallery, which was full of people, according to the BBC. Ho wore a serious expression. After the sentences were handed down, Lee appeared to pray as he was led out of the dock, while Chow blew a kiss to those seated in the public gallery.
The three were charged in 2021 for organizing vigils marking the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, a topic heavily censored in mainland China. Hong Kong was one of the only places in Chinese territory where such gatherings were once permitted. Authorities banned the vigils in 2020, citing Covid-19 policies, and they never resumed. The national security law, which criminalizes a wider range of dissenting acts, came into force the same year.
According to a court summary in August, Lee and Chow had "incited other persons to organise, plan, commit or participate in acts by unlawful means with a view to subverting the state power." Chow told the court in May that the law itself was on trial.
On Friday, the US State Department condemned the sentences, calling them a violation of Hong Kong's autonomy and fundamental freedoms. The department said the verdicts demonstrated Beijing's intensified crackdown on dissent.
Hong Kong authorities maintain the national security law is necessary to maintain stability, but critics argue it has eroded the territory's autonomy and created a climate of fear. The activists faced up to 10 years in prison before their sentences were handed down.