A law academic fired by Hong Kong’s top university after helping to spearhead the city’s pro-democracy movement has been sentenced to 10 years in jail in a landmark case.

Benny Tai, 60, was one of 47 activists accused of conspiring to commit subversion for their role in organising an unofficial “primary election” in 2020 ahead of a legislative election.

The activists were being tried under Hong Kong’s national security law, marking the most significant trial to take place to date under the controversial new rules.

Mr Tai was accused of masterminding a plan for the opposition to win a majority in the election, paralyse the government and eventually topple the city’s leader.

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He pleaded guilty and received the longest sentence of all the defendants.

Mr Tai was fired from his role as an associate professor at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) four years ago after he received a criminal conviction for his role in the 2014 “umbrella” protests. At the time, he wrote on social media that the decision marked “the end of academic freedom in Hong Kong”.

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Mr Tai obtained a law degree from HKU before studying at the London School of Economics. He returned to Hong Kong, where he worked as faculty member specialising in constitutional law and governance at HKU from 1991 until he was fired.

Also on trial was Joshua Wong, 28, a former student who became the face of the 2019 protests, which saw demonstrators – many of them students – occupy the streets, protesting against a bill that would allow extraditions to mainland China and demanding elections for the leader of Hong Kong.

Mr Wong also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years and eight months in jail.

Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch, described the sentences as “harsh”, adding that they reflect “just how fast Hong Kong’s civil liberties and judicial independence have nosedived in the past four years” since the national security law was introduced.

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In a report published earlier this year, the advocacy organisation said there had been a “severe decline” in academic freedom in Hong Kong since the law came into force, with academics reporting increased censorship.

Authors of the publication said academics felt that they must “tread carefully” for fear that a “misstep as to what they say, research, write, teach, or publish, or with whom they partner” could lead to “serious trouble” or “even land them in prison for years”.

“While the Chinese and Hong Kong governments have now significantly raised the costs for promoting democracy in Hong Kong, they will not be able to extinguish Hong Kong people’s decades-long struggle for freedoms,” Ms Wang said.

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com