47 HK dissidents charged

HONG KONG, Mar 1: Hundreds of democracy supporters gathered outside a Hong Kong courthouse on Monday chanting slogans and flashing protest symbols as some of the city's best-known dissidents appeared in the dock charged with subversion.
Beijing is battling to stamp out dissent in semi-autonomous Hong Kong after swathes of the population hit the streets in 2019 in huge and sometimes violent democracy demonstrations.
It has blanketed the once free-wheeling finance hub in a national security law, while anti-coronavirus measures ban public gatherings of more than four people. Police on Sunday charged 47 leading dissidents with conspiracy to commit subversion in the largest use yet of the security legislation.    -AFP