Opinion | Police action to 'protect' underage activists verges on intimidation
Albert Cheng says in the case of the 14-year-old Chalk Girl, the fact that details of her family background were leaked to the press is especially galling
A Form Three girl, aged 14, was detained by police for 17 hours last month for chalking flowers glorifying the Umbrella Movement on a wall at a staircase leading to the Central Government Offices in Admiralty.
If the girl was held on suspicion of damaging public property, it should be pointed out that using a piece of chalk for graffiti can hardly be conceived to have caused damage to a wall. The offence is so trivial that the police subsequently did not press charges.
Instead, the police changed tack and sought a court order to remove the girl from her father's care. They did not even engage a social worker to assess her situation. After hearing the police arguments in camera, a juvenile court judge sent the girl to a children's home in Tuen Mun for 20 days until her case could be heard on January 19.
The move triggered a public outcry.
The teen, branded the Chalk Girl, has now been reunited with her father, but only after human rights lawyers, led by Martin Lee Chu-ming, intervened. The High Court was swift in releasing the girl on bail.
Under the Protection of Children and Juveniles Ordinance, the director of social welfare and any police officer can seek a supervision order from the courts to commit a juvenile to the care of any person or institution.