Hongkong - Four former Hong Kong lawmakers were released from prison on Tuesday and served more than four years in conviction under a law imposed by Beijing that destroyed a once-exploited pro-democracy movement.

Claudia Mo, Jeremy Tam, Kwok Ka-ki and Gary Fan are the 47 activists arrested in 2021 for their role in the unofficial primary. They were the first convicted activist to be separated after reunited with their family and friends.

Only vehicles involved in the release operation can keep three prisons in remote areas of Asian financial hubs with strict safety. The curtains of the vehicle fell down. Journalists who have been waiting outside the prison for hours outside the jail cannot see them in person around the facilities.

An Associated Press reporter saw Mo's husband, Philip Bowring, waiting for the militants to return home at their residence and then escorted out of the area where they live by police.

In a video posted by local online media HK01, when the reporter asked about his feelings, Fan expressed his gratitude to Hong Kongers and Media for their attention. He added that he will be reunited with his family.

The informal primary in 2020 attracted 610,000 voters and its winner is expected to be promoted to formal legislative elections. However, authorities delayed this, citing public health risks during the Covid-19-19 pandemic.

The aim of the radicals was to paralyze the Hong Kong government and force the city leaders to resign to win a legislative majority and use it to block the government's budget, prosecutors said during the trial. In a judgment last year, the judge said that activists’ plans to achieve change through informal primary elections would undermine government power and create a constitutional crisis.

Only two of the 47 original defendants were acquitted. The rest of the activists received prison terms ranging from four years and two months to 10 years, accusing them of conspiracy to subvert. Mo, Tam, Kwok and Fan had the shortest term, and their sentences were reduced after pleading guilty.

Regardless of the length of their tenure, years of separation have left activists and their families suffering. The case involves democratic advocates across the spectrum. They include Benny Tai, a legal scholar who is 10 years in prison and Joshua Wong, a former student leader, who must serve four years and eight months.

14 of the guilty activists will appeal their case. Government lawyers will also acquittal of an activist.

Critics say their belief illustrates how authorities suppress dissent after the massive anti-government protests in 2019, as well as media repression and reduced public choice in elections. They say this huge political change reflects the promise of Beijing to remain in the former British colony for 50 years when Western-style civil liberties returned to China in 1997.

The Beijing and Hong Kong governments insist that the National Security Act is necessary for stability in the city. Despite criticism from foreign governments, China defends the judicial ruling.