Hong Kong protesters pray, gird for unauthorised rally

Hong Kong anti-government protesters are set for another weekend of civil disobedience as they prepare to hold an unauthorised protest march to press their demands.

Supporters held a prayer rally on Saturday night to call for international help for their cause. The protest march is planned for Sunday, with organisers vowing to hold the event even though it failed to win approval from police, who cited risks to public order.

As the semi-autonomous Chinese territory's political crisis extends into a fifth month, protesters are trying to keep the pressure on the government to respond to their demands, including full democracy and an independent inquiry into alleged police brutality.

They're also using Sunday's rally to raise a more recent demand for the government to scrap a ban installed this month on face masks at public gatherings.

Organisers said demonstrators would defy the police because Hong Kong's constitution guarantees the right to protest.

"We don't think that because police haven't given their approval we shouldn't demonstrate," Figo Chan, vice-convener of the Civil Human Rights Front, told reporters.

"Even though they have rejected our appeal, there will surely be many residents taking to the streets."