Hong Kong activist arrested over false torture claim

Hong Kong police on Tuesday said they arrested a pro-democracy activist on suspicion of providing false information after he announced last week that mainland Chinese agents had abducted him and stapled his legs. Howard Lam told reporters on Friday his abductors punctured his legs with staples arranged like crosses after asking him if he was a Christian. He said they eventually dumped him on a beach. Police became suspicious after they began investigating and checked surveillance footage from cameras in the area. “The victim’s reports about his activities on that day and the investigation’s results do not match,” officials said in a statement. “At this time, there’s no evidence that anyone was illegally detained in Hong Kong.” Lam said he planned to send a signed photo of professional soccer star Lionel Messi to Liu Xia, widow of the late Chinese activist and Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo. Lam said his captors questioned him about Xia and asked him not to “cause trouble.”