The 14, along with 31 others who pleaded guilty, could face life in jail, with sentencing expected later this year.
Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 after huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests brought the finance hub to a standstill.
Authorities then charged 47 people from across a wide cross-section of society with subversion, saying their political activities were aimed at bringing down the government.
Sixteen defendants -- including activists, former lawmakers and district councillors -- had pleaded not guilty.
Judge Andrew Chan on Thursday named the 14 defendants who were found guilty. Two former district councillors were found not guilty.
A short summary of the verdict released by the court said the 14 had planned to undermine "the power and authority of both the Government and Chief Executive".
"In our view... that would create a constitutional crisis for Hong Kong," it said.
Most of the defendants had been kept behind bars since they were first brought to court in March 2021.
The trial was held without a jury and the judges were chosen from a pool of jurists handpicked by Hong Kong's leader.
The 31 who pleaded guilty had done so hoping for lenient sentences.
Lawrence Lau, one of the defendants found not guilty, told reporters as he left the court to keep supporting the rest of the group.
"I hope that everyone will continue to (have) concern for our other friends in the case," he said.
- 'Show support' -
Prosecutors said the 47 had conspired to subvert state power by holding unofficial primary polls, as part of their plan to form a majority in the legislature.
With control of the legislature, they would veto government budgets and force the city's leader to accede to five key demands raised by protesters in 2019, the court heard.
Defence lawyers argued Hong Kong's mini-constitution had laid out mechanisms for such a plan and that the matter was "a purely political issue rather than a legal matter".
Outside the court Thursday, Kathy, one of the 610,000 voters who cast their ballots in the unofficial primary election in 2020, said she believed the defendants "never committed any crime".
"For me, the primary election was simply an occasion to show my support for something I believe in," she said, declining to provide her full name.
University student Lam said the primary election was a strategy "common in many places around the world".
"I still can't figure out how it can subvert the state, so I want to see how the court would rule on that," he said.
Ahead of the hearing, well-known activist Alexandra Wong, also known as Grandma Wong, attempted to stage a protest before police moved her off across the street to a fenced-off area.
"Immediately release the 47!" she shouted, waving a British flag. "Support democracy, support the 47!"
The case has been closely watched by the international community, with diplomatic officers from the consulates of France, the European Union and Italy going to the court on Thursday.
The United States and other Western nations have criticised China for cracking down on democracy in Hong Kong and curtailing freedoms promised when the former British colony was handed over to Chinese rule in 1997.
In response to the 2021 arrests of the defendants, the United States had sanctioned six Chinese and Hong Kong officials.
Before Thursday, 114 people had been found guilty of crimes related to the national security law since it was introduced.
The case against the group of 47 was the biggest under the law.
Key disputes in Hong Kong's largest national security trial
Hong Kong (AFP) May 29, 2024 -
A Hong Kong court will hand down verdicts on the city's largest national security trial of 47 pro-democracy activists on Thursday and Friday.
The group is a cross-section of the city's once-robust political opposition, and were charged with "conspiracy to subvert state power".
They had taken part in an unofficial primary election in 2020 to shortlist candidates for the city's later-cancelled legislature election.
Thirty-one defendants have pleaded guilty, which typically allows them a reduction to their prison sentence.
Sixteen others pleaded not guilty.
Under the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020, they all face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Here are a few key elements raised during the 118-day trial in 2023:
- Democracy or conspiracy? -
On the 11th and 12th of July 2020, more than 610,000 voters in Hong Kong -- 14 percent of the city's voting population -- cast their ballots in the primary election, hoping to beef up the pro-democracy force in the legislature.
The year before, Hong Kong had seen hundreds of thousands take to the streets in massive, and at times violent, pro-democracy protests -- which were swiftly quashed by authorities.
The prosecution said the defendants -- as the primary's organisers and participants -- conspired to gain a majority in the legislature with their winning candidates to force the government to meet the "five demands" of the 2019 pro-democracy movement.
The "five demands", which included implementation of universal suffrage for the city leader and lawmakers elections, "could not be realistically satisfied by the chief executive" and therefore the defendants were determined to veto the budget "indiscriminately", according to the prosecution.
Vetoing the budget "would inevitably create a constitutional crisis and paralyse the government".
A number of the defendants on trial said the demands were not unlawful, and they believed it was an elected legislator's duty to do what their voters wanted.
Defence lawyer Trevor Beel told the court it was "handling a purely political issue rather than a legal matter".
"It would not amount to subversion in any other common law jurisdiction, it would be considered normal politics," Beel said.
- Constitution vs. national security law -
To convict the defendants of conspiracy, prosecutors were required to prove that unlawful acts were deployed to undermine the performance of the legislature and the government.
The prosecution said indiscriminately vetoing the budget and using it to compel the chief executive would be "an abuse of power", which could be considered an unlawful act.
They also argued the defendants could have committed misconduct in public office and breached their oath of allegiance to China and Hong Kong by carrying out their plan.
The defence, however, argued that such acts were allowed according to the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution since its handover from Britain to China in 1997.
The Basic Law has specific mechanisms in its text on resolving conflicts between the legislature and Hong Kong's administration.
If the Legislative Council refuses to pass a budget, the city's leader can dissolve it, and hold elections for new legislators.
If the newly elected council refuses to pass the budget again, the city's leader must resign.
Defence lawyer Randy Shek argued that the activists' actions were in line with the city's constitutional text.
- Security trial mode -
Over the three years since the defendants were arrested, the prosecution has expanded their legal arsenal by transforming some existing common law rules and activating new powers under the national security law.
These measures have been adopted in other major trials, like the one against pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai.
Common law practices that have been altered include no longer having a presumption of bail, and jury trial no longer being a norm for security crimes in senior courts.
Another significant change was that good behaviour in jail no longer gets security crime convicts a reduction in their sentence.
Hong Kong's opposition-free legislature last year also amended the city's criminal procedures, which allowed the prosecution to appeal against a non-guilty verdict in security cases.
Last October, a group of United Nations human rights experts expressed concerns about the trial.
"We are very troubled about the use of mass trials in (national security law) cases and how they may negatively affect safeguards that ensure due process and the right to fair trial."
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