For seven days a week, 24 hours a day for five months, Lam Wing-kee was confined to a small room, under constant surveillance by rotating teams of guards. When he brushed his teeth, a guard held a piece of nylon string attached to one end of the brush, just to make sure, he says, that he didn’t try to commit suicide by swallowing it.
He was forced to sign away his rights to legal representation or to see his family, he told the press Thursday, and coerced into a closely scripted televised confession.
The Hong Kong bookseller’s dramatic tale of abduction and psychological torture by Chinese authorities may have only confirmed what everyone already suspected, but the details have still horrified many people in Hong Kong.
They have also underlined concerns for a colleague, Sweden’s Gui Minhai, who vanished from his apartment in the Thai resort of Pattaya last October and has not been heard of for four months.
The men were among five booksellers who vanished last year from China, Hong Kong, and Thailand, before surfacing in Chinese custody amid an investigation into their publishing business. Lam said he was detained by Chinese ‘‘special forces’’ on his way to visit his girlfriend in the southern city of Shenzhen on Oct. 24, news agencies reported, then blindfolded and handcuffed as he was taken by train to the eastern city of Ningbo, where he was interrogated 20 or 30 times.
Many of books published by Causeway Bay Books, notably gossipy accounts of the private lives of senior Communist Party figures, are banned in mainland China but were eagerly snapped up by Chinese tourists in Hong Kong, to Beijing’s rising annoyance. Lam said he and his girlfriend were accused of mailing banned books into China.
In the former British territory, many lawmakers believe the abductions have dramatically undermined their cherished freedoms and shown China’s ‘‘one country, two systems’’ pledge to be hollow. They have also raised concerns all over the world.
Several dozen members of a pro-democracy party founded by the student leaders of the 2014 Umbrella Revolution protests gathered outside a Chinese government office in Hong Kong Friday, news agencies reported.
Lam said his colleague Lee Po, also known as Lee Bo, had confirmed to him that he had been abducted by Chinese agents from Hong Kong itself, something that would directly convene the ‘‘one country, two systems’’ pledge.
It is a claim that Lee himself publicly denies, but most Hongkongers believe to be true.
Emily Lau, a pro-democracy lawmaker, applauded Lam’s bravery for deciding to speak out, and expressed concerns for his safety. She called his treatment ‘‘quite horrific.’’
‘‘It shows how in the mainland there is nothing but complete lawlessness,’’ she said. ‘‘If China wants to join the international community as a respected member, it must abide by the code of behavior of the civilized world.’’
Amnesty International said Lam’s account ‘‘expose[s] the Chinese authorities’ lies.’’
‘‘Lam Wing-kee has blown apart the Chinese authorities’ story,’’ said Mabel Au, director of Amnesty International Hong Kong. ‘‘The Chinese authorities must come clean and admit the truth. The plight of the other booksellers still in mainland China is extremely worrying. They must be granted access to lawyers and where appropriate consular assistance.’’
Gui Minhai’s daughter, Angela Gui, testified before Congress about her father’s disappearance in May. Speaking to CNN on Thursday she said that she hoped that after Lam’s release, she would soon have positive news.
