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Veteran Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners are jailed as Beijing extends its crackdown on dissent. Is China’s promise of ‘one country, two systems’ officially over?

The verdicts came as mainland China is increasingly cracking down on Hong Kong's rights and freedoms.

Among those in court was Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai who was sentenced to 14 months in prison after being found guilty of unauthorised assembly.

Several other activists were sentenced on Friday for participating in two demonstrations, on 18 August and 31 August 2019.

They include veteran campaigner Martin Lee, 82, and lawyer Margaret Ng, 73, whose sentences were suspended.

The sentencing is part of a series of trials all relating to the large-scale pro-democracy protests in 2019.

The protests culminated in the most tense wave of demonstrations in years, often ending in widespread violence between police and activists.

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