Police won't seek protection order for Hong Kong teen arrested during Occupy clearance

The police have called off their bid to apply for a child protection order for a 14-year-old boy arrested during the Occupy Mong Kok clearance operation, weeks after their attempts to separate another underage activist from her legal custodian were called into question.

The teenage boy, whose name cannot be revealed due to his age, was not required to appear at Fanling Court yesterday morning after his solicitor Patricia Ho wrote to the magistracy to call off the originally scheduled hearing.

This came after the Department of Justice announced last week that it had no interest in pressing a charge of contempt of court against the boy.

A care and protection order is usually used for children in dangerous circumstances, such as those facing the risk of drug addiction or abuse. It could lead to the removal of the boy from his parents' care.

"I welcome the decision … because if it's dragged on it would only cost more of my time and money," the boy told the . He called the order a "scare tactic" and "political prosecution".

The department said that, given the evidence and the decision to dispose of the case, "a care and protection order was no longer necessary and hence it was withdrawn".

While welcoming the withdrawal, the solicitor also berated the department for even considering seeking the order: "All along I saw no basis in the application."