Clashes as Hong Kong protesters don Halloween masks

HONG KONG: Hong Kong democracy activists donned Halloween masks lampooning the city´s pro-Beijing leaders, defying an emergency law that bans face coverings and sparking renewed clashes with police.

Online forums used to organise the largely leaderless movement encouraged supporters to wear Halloween-themed masks as police warned they would force revellers to remove outfits and facepaint if they engaged in protests. Small flashmob rallies broke out in multiple locations on Thursday evening. The new protests come as official figures released Thursday showed the city has plunged into a technical recession for the first time since the global financial crisis over a decade ago.

At Victoria Park, around a hundred protesters gathered for an unsanctioned march to a popular nightclub district that had been surrounded by riot police. Many wore outfits poking fun at the city´s leadership. Yan Lee, an accountant in her 50s, wore a mask that combined the face of justice secretary Theresa Cheng with the Disney villain Maleficent. “For months she has done nothing for Hong Kong but defend the authorities,” she told AFP.