Supporter of Chinese dissident kidnapped, tortured

A member of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party said Mandarin-speaking law enforcement officers abducted him and stapled crosses on his legs before dumping him on a beach. Howard Lam told reporters Friday that his attackers struck his head, seized his phone, and made him smell something before he lost consciousness. His captors held him for up to nine hours, during which they beat and interrogated him, Lam said. He also received 21 staples into his skin in the form of crosses after one of the men asked him whether he was a Christian. Lam had planned to send a signed photo of professional soccer star Lionel Messi to late Chinese activist and Nobel laureate Liu Xioabo before his death July 13. Lam said he received a phone call earlier this week from an acquaintance who warned him not to give the picture to Xiaobo’s widow, Liu Xia. His captors questioned him about Xia, Lam said, and asked him not to “cause trouble.” Chinese mainland officials are not allowed to enforce Chinese law in Hong Kong. Democratic lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting called on Hong Kong’s government to investigate the assault.