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 following Beijing’s sweeping crackdown on dissent.

A Hong Kong court sentenced 45 pro-democracy advocates in a mass trial on Tuesday, marking the largest case yet brought under the city's draconian National Security Law.

The U.S. has criticized the trial and said the activists should be released as they had been "peacefully participating in political activities."