Hong Kong pan-democrat Howard Lam jailed after losing appeal against conviction in torture claim
- Last year, Lam was found guilty of one count of knowingly making a false report to police about an offence, but was out on bail
- On Thursday, he lost his appeal against the conviction, and was asked to serve his five-month sentence
A member of Hong Kong’s pan-democratic camp was jailed on Thursday after he lost his appeal against the conviction of misleading police by making up a report about being kidnapped, drugged, and tortured by mainland Chinese agents who punched staples into his thighs.
Mr Justice Alex Lee Wan-tang refused Howard Lam Tsz-kin’s appeal and sent him to prison to serve his five-month sentence. Lam had been out on bail.
Defence counsel Joe Chan said his client was going to appeal to a higher court.
“I am not guilty,” Lam said in a statement released after the hearing. “I solemnly declare that I have never lied.”
Lam, the founding member of the Democratic Party, had stuck to his story even as he returned to the High Court on Thursday, claiming his conviction was based on speculation and fabricated videos featuring someone who looked like him.
But the judge concluded that the conviction was both lawful and reasonable, and dismissed all seven grounds of appeal.
The 46-year-old was found guilty after trial last year of one count of knowingly making a false report to police about an offence, which is punishable by six-months’ imprisonment and a fine of HK$1,000 (US$129).
But he has not served a day in prison, as he was bailed out after his lawyers revealed plans to appeal immediately following his sentencing.
Lam made international headlines when he claimed at a press conference on August 11, 2017, that he was abducted a day earlier. The presser was organised by his party and attended by leading pan-democrats.
His tale had struck a sensitive note among Hongkongers, who feared of the possibility of mainland Chinese authorities contravening the “one country, two systems” principle, protected by the Basic Law, to exercise law enforcement powers in the city.
Those fears were particularly acute when five Hong Kong booksellers operating from Causeway Bay mysteriously disappeared in 2015 and re-emerged across the border for investigation. They were involved in the sale of publications banned in mainland China.
Lam believed he was targeted for attempting to send a signed postcard from Barcelona soccer star Lionel Messi to Liu Xia, the widow of the late mainland Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.
A medical examination found he had bruises on his belly and 21 staples punctured into his thighs. Residues of psychiatric medication, such as tranquillisers and sleeping pills, were also found in his body.
But a turning point came after police viewed security cameras and found him walking freely in many clips when he had supposedly been kidnapped.
Lam was arrested on August 15, 2017.
His high-profile trial centred on a report Lam made to detective police constable Wong Kai-pui at Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam after his August 11 press conference.
In the report, Lam claimed a mainland public security officer, Xu Ke, contacted him to express his disapproval of the plan to send Messi’s signed postcard to Xia. He was allegedly kidnapped two days later in broad daylight from Portland Street in Mong Kok.
A government forensic pathologist testified at trial that Lam’s injuries were potentially self-inflicted, while the defence called British forensic specialist Dr Jason Payne-James to explain his injuries were consistent with his story.
