In early October, a group of teachers, social workers, environmentalists and heritage buffs staged a last-ditch attempt to save Hong Kong's famous Wedding Card Street from the wrecker's ball.
No 11th-hour reprieve for Lee Tung Street was to come, with police instead breaking up the protest and arresting 15 people for obstruction. And the incident did not end there.
What had been a cut and dried case of urban planning protest became enmeshed in bigger questions of constitutional rights and police accountability. In particular, a decision by police to strip-search the arrested protesters has triggered widespread condemnation from politicians, human rights groups, women's organisations, lawyers and academics.
The searches have been criticised as unjustified given the circumstances of the arrests. A claim by one of the female protesters that she was watched by a male officer during the process has raised alarm.
'It's nonsense,' said legislator James To Kun-sun, who has been helping the activists. 'These were all very enthusiastic teachers, environmentalists, volunteers ... they are not big, threatening robbers.'
Although the police said an initial investigation showed no officers had violated rules, Hong Kong lacks a concise set of guidelines relating to the detention and search of suspects, along the lines of Britain's Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE). Despite several recommendations by the Law Reform Commission to implement such guidelines, Hong Kong has for more than a decade resisted reform in this area.
'Basically if they [the police] arrest someone, they have a common law power to search someone they arrest if it's reasonable to do so. What it really comes down to is if it's reasonable in the circumstances,' human rights lawyer Paul Harris said.
