HONG KONG, April 29, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Four former Hong Kong opposition lawmakers who were jailed in the city's largest national security case were released on Tuesday after completing their prison terms, the first among 45 convicted to regain their freedom.

Authorities used a Beijing-imposed national security law to charge 47 people -- including some of Hong Kong's best-known democracy advocates -- with subversion after they held a primary election in 2020 in a bid to win a legislative majority.

Former Hong Kong opposition lawmaker Claudia Mo, 68, left the Lo Wu Correctional Institution just before sunrise on Tuesday after completing her sentence, according to police.

Three co-defendants -- Kwok Ka-ki, Jeremy Tam and Gary Fan -- also finished serving their sentences and left Hong Kong's Stanley Prison and Shek Pik prison at around the same time.

All four people were taken out of prison in cars with curtains drawn, with police at the scene confirming that the democrats were in those vehicles.

The four democrats pleaded guilty and were each sentenced to four years and two months behind bars in November.

The sentences have been condemned by Western governments and rights groups, with the United States calling the penalties "unjust" and the United Nations right office expressing what it called grave concern.

The four, who had been in custody since March 2021, received the lightest penalty among the defendants and were released on Tuesday taking into account the time they served before going on trial.