HONG KONG -- A Hong Kong court on Tuesday convicted a 24-year-old motorcyclist of secession and terrorism, the first verdict to be handed down under the national security law imposed on the city by Beijing a year ago.

Tong Ying-kit faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment in the case, centered on his actions on July 1, 2020 -- hours after the security law came into effect - when he drove into a line of police with a flag mounted on his bike reading, "Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times."

His 15-day trial focused in large part on whether, as prosecutors argued, the slogan should be considered as incitement to pursue Hong Kong independence. Tong will be sentenced at a later date.

In a rarity for a criminal trial under Hong Kong's common law system inherited from the U.K., Tong's case was heard by a panel of three judges from a pool chosen by the government, rather than a jury.