Hong Kong activist says Chinese agents drove staples into his legs over message to footballer Lionel Messi

                                   

Protesters carry a large image of jailed Chinese Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo as they march during the annual pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong

A pro-democracy activist in Hong Kong has said that Chinese agents drove staples into his legs after he asked soccer star Lionel Messi to send a message of support for a jailed Chinese dissident.

The bizarre episode has heightened concerns about the erosion of the rule of law in Hong Kong as the mainland authorities try to exert greater control over the semiautonomous Chinese city’s freewheeling politics.

At a news conference in Hong Kong, the activist, Howard Lam, a member of the Democratic Party, displayed metal staples in his thighs that he said were put there by men who abducted and beat him.

A pro-democracy activist in Hong Kong has said that Chinese agents drove staples into his legs after he asked soccer star Lionel Messi to send a message of support for a jailed Chinese dissident.

The bizarre episode has heightened concerns about the erosion of the rule of law in Hong Kong as the mainland authorities try to exert greater control over the semiautonomous Chinese city’s freewheeling politics.

At a news conference in Hong Kong, the activist, Howard Lam, a member of the Democratic Party, displayed metal staples in his thighs that he said were put there by men who abducted and beat him.

Lam said he was shopping Thursday for a trip to the United States in the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong when two men approached him. “We’d like to have a chat,” they said in Mandarin before forcing him into a van, he said.

The men hit him, took his phone and forced him to inhale something that made him faint, Lam said. When he awoke, he had been stripped to his underwear and tied up, he said. The men began to question him about Liu Xia and warned him not to “cause trouble.”

Lam said the men asked him whether he was Christian, then one said he would “give you some crosses” and drove staples into his legs in a cross pattern. He said he lost consciousness after again being forced to inhale something and woke early Friday on a remote beach.

At the news conference Friday, Lam Cheuk-ting, a Democratic Party lawmaker, said, “Kidnapping, threatening and torturing Hong Kong people is a very serious crime in Hong Kong, no matter their identity, whether they’re from mainland authorities or not.”

“I urge the Hong Kong government to conduct a full investigation,” he added. “And we want to send a very clear message to the Chinese authority that this kind of incident should not happen and should not happen again.”

Lam said he was shopping Thursday for a trip to the United States in the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong when two men approached him. “We’d like to have a chat,” they said in Mandarin before forcing him into a van, he said.

The men hit him, took his phone and forced him to inhale something that made him faint, Lam said. When he awoke, he had been stripped to his underwear and tied up, he said. The men began to question him about Liu Xia and warned him not to “cause trouble.”

Lam said the men asked him whether he was Christian, then one said he would “give you some crosses” and drove staples into his legs in a cross pattern. He said he lost consciousness after again being forced to inhale something and woke early Friday on a remote beach.

At the news conference Friday, Lam Cheuk-ting, a Democratic Party lawmaker, said, “Kidnapping, threatening and torturing Hong Kong people is a very serious crime in Hong Kong, no matter their identity, whether they’re from mainland authorities or not.”

“I urge the Hong Kong government to conduct a full investigation,” he added. “And we want to send a very clear message to the Chinese authority that this kind of incident should not happen and should not happen again.”