A failure to uphold the law

Whatever senior officials have said about upholding the law, Hong Kong has bungled its attempt to punish the anti-WTO protesters.

On December 17, during the World Trade Organisation talks, the police failed to guard critical sections of the protest route. That allowed some hardened protesters to break through the cordon and cause havoc in areas close to the conference venue. They used very violent means, such as wielding metal barriers to break through police lines.

After beating them back and rounding them up, the police were careful to follow due process in detaining some 900 people.

Their arrests were handled in a very civilised manner. But the inordinately long time that it took to complete the process amounted to abuse. It stretched from the evening of December 17 to the early afternoon of the next day. During that period, the protesters were kept in the open, in chilly temperatures, with no blankets.

The overwhelming majority of the detainees were subsequently released without being charged. That gave rise to suspicions that the police strategy was simply to prevent them from mounting another protest before the conference ended.

Eventually, holding charges were slapped on only 14 protesters, and evidence was sought to press more serious charges against them.

While on bail awaiting trial, the suspects, with the help of local activists, managed to mount a campaign to sway public opinion. It focused on the grievances that drove them to protest, diverting attention from the violence.