Democrat Gets Prison Term Over False Kidnap Claim

Veteran Democratic Party member Howard Lam was on Friday found guilty of lying to the police over his sensational claim that he was kidnapped and tortured by "mainland agents", with a magistrate sentencing him to five months in prison.

He was freed on bail, however, pending an appeal.

Senior members of the party had flanked Lam in August 2017 when he announced to the media that he had been snatched from the streets of Mong Kong, bundled into a van and knocked unconscious with some kind of anaesthetic.

Recounting his story at the time, he said his kidnappers, who spoke in Mandarin, had stripped him half-naked and fired staples into his thighs before eventually dumping him on a beach in Sai Kung.

At West Kowloon Court, Lam had denied knowingly making a false report of an offence to the police.

But on Friday, acting chief magistrate So Wai-tak said based on the evidence, he was sure that the abduction never took place.

During the trial, the prosecution had noted that not a single person had witnessed the alleged abduction, despite Lam's claim that it happened in broad daylight in a busy street. It also said that CCTV footage caught Lam leaving the area by himself, on a minibus.

The prosecution suggested Lam's wounds were self-inflicted, and it also questioned whether if someone had just been the victim of torture, they would take the time to arrange a press conference before having their injuries seen to.

The magistrate said Lam's claim would lead Hong Kong people and the international community to fear that mainland authorities are simply abducting, detaining and torturing dissidents in the territory.

He caused unnecessary concern and unease and wasted a lot of police time, the magistrate said.

Outside court, Lam insisted everything that he said was true, and it would have been easy for his attackers to have sent someone to impersonate him in Mong Kok on that day.

“I did not lie, end one-party rule!” he shouted.

Lam’s mother also spoke to reporters outside court. She said her son has never been a liar and her heart aches to see that he has not received justice in court.

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