As 47 pro-democracy figures appeared in court for charges under Hong Kong’s controversial national security law, their families and friends showed their support by attending the hearing.

Every morning since the bail hearing began on Monday, a queue of hundreds of people could be seen outside the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court. Most have worn black, a color donned by anti-extradition bill protesters in 2019 to express their frustrations toward the government.

Many worry that the defendants will not be set free ever again. Under the national security law, bail will only be granted if defendants can prove they will not endanger national security, a condition that many deem contradictory to the “innocent until proven guilty” principle in the common law system. Accused of subversion, the defendants could face life sentences.

Among those outside the court were people who have worked alongside the defendants for years. A woman told Apple Daily on Wednesday that she was the assistant for one of the defendants. She was there for the small glimmer of hope that her employer might be released, she said.

Activist Lily Wong was also in the queue outside the court. She said she was particularly worried about Tiffany Yuen, a district councilor whom she had worked with in the now-defunct Demosisto.

Because of the large number of defendants, members of the public have not been allowed in the courtroom. Arrangements have instead been made for them to watch the proceedings from another room.

On Monday, the wife and son of Benny Tai, a former law professor who played a key role in the 2014 Umbrella Movement, appeared relaxed outside the court building but refused to give interviews.

They were reading Rutger Bregman’s “Humankind: A Hopeful History,” a book that John Clancey — an American lawyer who was arrested in the same case but not yet charged — carried with him as he reported to the police station on Sunday.

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