China sentences 10 seeking to flee Hong Kong to prison terms

Relatives of a group of Hong Kong activists detained at sea by Chinese authorities attend a press conference on Monday. A Chinese court has sentenced 10 of the activists to prison sentences of up to three years on Wednesday (Kin Cheung/AP)

A Chinese court on Wednesday sentenced 10 pro-democracy activists who sought to flee Hong Kong by speedboat to between seven months and three years in prison, in a case with major political overtones for the territory.

The Yantian District Court in the southern city of Shenzhen gave the harshest sentence to one of the two accused organisers of the ill-fated August 23 attempt to reach self-ruled Taiwan.