Lam's Tale Apparently Full of Holes

 Lam was arrested last night; today he was charged with misleading police

The bizarre story of Democratic Party member Howard Lam Tsz-kin took another turn today as he has now been charged with misleading police, as the authorities are finding his story implausible.

Footage shows Lam was there an hour later than he claimed

Yesterday news organization Fact Wire released video footage its reporters had gathered where Lam claimed he had been abducted by mainland agents. Instead of seeing him bungled into a van in Yau Ma Tei, he was walking on his own with a knapsack on his back. He was also in the area an hour after he claimed the incident took place.

There was more CCTV footage of him getting onto a minibus in Mongkok to go to Sai Kung and he wandered around the beach. Originally he had claimed his abductors had dumped him there in his underwear and he somehow managed to have money to take a taxi home.

Police also questioned why the crosses of staples on his thighs were so neatly done, and there was no sign of him struggling. Staples on other parts of his body that he couldn't reach could have made the claims more plausible.

Police say the staples in his thighs were too neat to be forced

Lam's case will be heard tomorrow in Kowloon City Court, though he will not be present because he claimed to be feeling unwell and was still in hospital.

Another issue is that Lam has a history of mental health issues including depression and suicide, and the authorities think that perhaps the stapling was a form of self-harm, but he insisted he was mentally fine.

Meanwhile the Democratic Party is slowly backing away from Lam, after they had rallied around him during his press conference last week. The whole incident further disintegrates whatever integrity the party had left, making it the laughing stock of local politics, dragging down the likes of Martin Lee Chu-ming with it.

Police searched for more clues on Sai Kung beach today

Why would anyone want to support them now, but the only alternatives are a bunch of kid activists or patriotic pro-Beijing supporters. There isn't much choice left. The pan-democrats are really lucky it's not an election year...

Democracy Activist Claims Being Abducted

Howard Lam shows the signed postcard apparently from Lionel Messi

There are questions around the Democratic Party's Howard Lam Tsz-kin's claims that he was abducted by mainland Chinese agents and beaten up, had his thighs punctured with staples, then left in his underwear on a beach.

That's what he said this afternoon in a press conference -- even revealed the staples still in his thighs.

Staples in Lam's thighs were still there for the media to see

Lam claims that footballer Lionel Messi had given him a signed postcard to give to Liu Xia, the wife of the late Liu Xiaobo, and because of this, mainland agents threw him into a van in Portland Street soon after he bought some football jerseys.

During the press conference, Lam said he hadn't gone to the police because he didn't trust them, but after meeting the media he would go to the hospital to get checked out.

The Hong Kong police is obviously concerned and has launched an investigation into this bizarre-sounding incident, and has said that if anyone experiences an incident, they should report it to the authorities as soon as possible so that the culprits won't destroy evidence or get away.

Which is why we wonder if Lam's claims are real or fabricated. For someone who was apparently roughed up, there aren't many serious bruises on his body, and why keep those staples in his thighs for so long? Why not take a picture and then go to the hospital to get treated?

Lam went to the hospital after his press conference

If he really was abducted, these guys were really low level ones to think of stapling his thighs.

However, if this is a hoax, then why go through all this trouble? Why is he seeking this kind of attention?

When I first read the story I was quite shocked, but now the more I think about it, the more questions I have about Lam's motivations.

We'll have to see what happens in the coming days -- does his claim fall flat, or are there some mainland abductors who are staple-gun crazy?