HONG KONG - Hong Kong prison staff were wrong to cut the hair of a veteran dissident known for his long locks, the city's top court said on Friday , in the second significant ruling against authorities this month.
Better known by the sobriquet"Longhair", he is one of the city's best known dissidents, beginning his career campaigning against British colonial rule and later becoming a fierce critic of Beijing. "The fact that male prisoners are denied a choice as to their hair length, suggests that they are treated less favourably than female prisoners," the judges wrote, adding authorities had failed to explain why short hair was required for custodial discipline.Unlike authoritarian China's party-controlled judiciary, the city maintains an independent common law system that forms the bedrock of its success as a global trade and finance hub.
Beijing loyalists have been incensed by recent acquittals of some protesters - often by judges with harsh words to say about police behaviour and evidence gathering - and judicial reviews that have gone against the government.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
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