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.”
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