More than 40 of Hong Kong’s best known pro-democracy figures have been sentenced to prison terms of up to 10 years on subversion charges, in the biggest single blow to the city’s already shrinking political freedoms since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security crackdown four years ago.

The activists were arrested over a single day in 2021 and charged with “conspiracy to commit subversion” for taking part in an unofficial primary election.

HONG KONG — Forty-five ex-lawmakers and activists were sentenced to four to 10 years in prison Tuesday in Hong Kong’s biggest national security case under a Beijing-imposed law that crushed a once-thriving pro-democracy movement.