A Hong Kong court has begun sentencing more than 40 of the city’s best known pro-democracy figures on charges of subversion in the largest national security trial to date following Beijing’s sweeping crackdown on dissent in the once free-wheeling city.

A Hong Kong court will sentence dozens of former democracy advocates in the city’s largest national security trial, a move likely to further deter dissent in the finance hub and attract condemnation from Western governments.

One of the most recognisable faces of Hong Kong's democracy movement, Joshua Wong has pleaded guilty in the city's largest national security trial