A Hong Kong court on Friday sentenced three former leaders of a now-dismantled Hong Kong political alliance for up to seven years and three months behind bars for inciting subversion.

The court, heard by national security judges Alex Lee Wan-tang, Johnny Chan Jong-herng, and Anna Lai Yuen-kee, also fined the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China HK$1.5 million ($191,292), which must be paid within three months.

The alliance’s former chairman Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment, and its vice-chairwoman Chow Hang-tung, 41, faces seven years and three months behind bars.

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The 74-year-old Albert Ho Chun-yan, the group’s former vice-chairman who pleaded guilty in January, was sentenced to five years and two months in jail.

The alliance and its three ex-leaders were jointly charged under the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region National Security Law for inciting others, between July 1, 2020 and Sept 8, 2021, to organize, plan, commit, or participate in acts aimed at subverting State power through unlawful means.

Ho pleaded guilty before the trial began, and the remaining defendants were convicted by the court on Aug 21.

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After conviction, subversion charges under the HKSAR National Security Law could lead to a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.

Contact the writer at stacyshi@chinadailyhk.com