New Delhi, Feb. 23 -- A Hong Kong court Monday dismissed all appeals arising from the city's biggest case brought under a Beijing-imposed national security law.

The pro-democracy advocates who lodged the challenges were among 47 activists charged in 2021 with conspiracy to commit subversion for their involvement in an unofficial primary election. The mass prosecution involving some of the best-known activists crushed much of the city's once-thriving pro-democracy movement that reached a height with massive anti-government protests in 2019.

Forty-five of the defendants were sentenced to between four years and 10 years in 2024, with their punishments drawing criticism from foreign governments and rights groups.

Eleven activists who appea...