Prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and barrister Chow Hang-tung, 38, is among those convicted. Chow was the vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China.

Tang Ngok Kwan and Tsui Hon Kwong, two other former Alliance standing committee members, were also found guilty.

As the main organizer of Hong Kong's June 4 candlelight vigil for victims of China's Tiananmen Square crackdown, the Alliance drew tens of thousands of people to the largest public commemoration on Chinese soil every year.

As a result of Hong Kong's massive anti-government protests in 2019, authorities have not permitted the vigil to take place. After several members of the Coalition, including Chow, were arrested in September 2021, the Alliance was disbanded.

In the trial that began late last year, more than a year after the defendants were arrested, Government Prosecutor Ivan Cheung accused the Alliance of acting as an agent of an unknown organization after allegedly receiving HK$20,000 (US$2,547).

She argued in court that the Alliance was run by Hong Kongers as part of an independent civil society organization, and the charge against her and the other defendants was politically motivated.

The existence of an independent organization like theirs is essential to a nation's security, not a threat, she said.

An expected sentencing date for this offense is March 11, with a maximum sentence of six months in prison.