HONG KONG — Holding banners and shouting slogans, hundreds of people assembled outside a court in Hong Kong on Monday in a rare act of defiance after 47 of the city’s most prominent pro-democracy politicians and activists were arrested. The brief gathering of supporters, who held bright yellow signs reading “Release all political prisoners,” was an echo of the huge pro-democracy demonstrations that regularly filled the streets of Hong Kong in 2019. They lined up around the West Kowloon court complex, where the 47 opposition figures were being arraigned on charges of conspiracy to commit subversion. Such demonstrations have become an unusual sight in Hong Kong in the past year or so, after the city enacted restrictions to fight the pandemic and Beijing imposed a harsh national security law in June. The police warned the crowd they could be in violation of the security law or illegal-assembly rules.

Source: New York Times March 01, 2021 12:20 UTC