Hong Kong's High Court on Tuesday jailed 45 pro-democracy activists for up to 10 years following a landmark national security trial that has damaged the city's once feisty democracy movement and drawn criticism from the U.

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

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.