Joseph John, also known as Wong Kin-chung, pleaded guilty in February to the charge, admitting that he was the chairperson of the now-dissolved Britain-based Hong Kong Independence Party. He was also an administrator for the party's six online platforms.
The guiding principles of the little-known group included "declaring China's illegal occupation of Hong Kong", "inviting the UK and the US to send troops to Hong Kong", and calling for the city to be an "independent member state of the Commonwealth", the court was told.
The prosecution alleged 42 posts on the party's social media platforms to be "secessionist". The offending posts included online petitions for foreign military intervention and crowdfunding to build an army for Hong Kong.
On Thursday, Judge Ernest Lin sentenced John to five years in jail, saying that he had "distorted history, demonised China, and appealed to foreign countries to destroy (Hong Kong) and China by political or simply violent means".
"Those posts lent excuses to foreign politicians... to criticise, boycott and even suppress China and (Hong Kong) in the name of helping Hong Kong," Lin said.
John, a 41-year-old Portuguese citizen, has been denied bail for over 16 months since he was arrested and charged in November 2022 with "conspiracy to carry out seditious acts", punishable with up to two years in jail under Hong Kong's Crimes Ordinance.
Last March, the prosecution upgraded his case to fall under Hong Kong's first national security law, which was imposed by Beijing to quell dissent in 2020 after the city saw massive and at times violent pro-democracy protests.
Diplomats from Portugal and the European Union were in court Thursday to observe the proceedings.
Portugal's consul general in Hong Kong Alexandre Leitao told AFP they had not been able to visit John.
Hong Kongers with dual nationality are not entitled to foreign consular assistance as the city authorities have been strictly enforcing Chinese nationality regulations.
More than 290 people have been arrested, 174 charged and 112 convicted of national security crimes since the Beijing-made security law came into force.
Critics said the law has eviscerated Hong Kong's civil society and political opposition.
Last month, Hong Kong enacted a second national security law, which removed a one-third sentence discount for good behaviour in jail for security offence convicts like John.
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