A small group of protesters gathered outside the Hong Kong court where the city’s largest national security trial was set to begin Monday.
Police keep watch outside a court in Hong Kong on February 6, 2023 as the trial of 47 of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy figures begins in the largest prosecution under a national security law that has crushed dissent in the city.
The law transformed Hong Kong, ending a culture of boisterous demonstrations and outspoken politics, and remolding China’s freest city to more closely resemble the authoritarian mainland. The proceedings are expected to last more than four months, and the defendants face up to life imprisonment if convicted.
According to authorities, they were trying to topple Hong Kong’s government, while the defendants say they are being prosecuted for practicing normal opposition politics. The 47 were charged en masse under the national security law that China imposed in 2020, after huge and often violent pro-democracy protests.
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