Hong Kong activist arrested over allegation of stapled legs
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HONG KONG — The strange case of a Hong Kong pro-democracy activist who claimed mainland Chinese agents stapled his legs as a warning has taken another twist after police arrested him Tuesday on suspicion of providing false information.
Howard Lam made waves last week with his eye-catching allegations, which rekindled fears about Beijing interfering in Hong Kong despite promising it considerable autonomy since the 1997 handover from Britain. But police said his story didn’t check out.
“The victim’s reports about his activities on that day and the investigation’s results do not match,” police said in a statement, “At this time, there’s no evidence that anyone was illegally detained in Hong Kong.”
Lam, 42, had intended to send a signed photo of Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi to Liu Xia, the widow of late Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, and posted his plans on Facebook. He said he received a call early last week from an acquaintance on the mainland warning him not to send the photo.
