Bookseller Lam Wing-kee met with Hong Kong police on Monday, almost two weeks after he returned to the city.
When Lam crossed the border on June 14, he cancelled his missing person case and stated that he did not require any assistance from the government or the police – the same as other returned booksellers. But in a surprise press conference two days later, he revealed details of his “kidnap” and eight-month detention, saying his words at the border were scripted by the unit that detained him.
On Monday morning, he arrived at the police headquarters in Wan Chai, accompanied by Democratic Party lawmaker James To Kun-sun, for a meeting with a chief inspector and another inspector of the Hong Kong Island Regional Crime Unit.
Lam gave a testimony of what happened to him after he returned to Hong Kong, saying the police were “sincere” in requesting to meet him.
See also: Full, complete transcript of returned bookseller Lam Wing-kee’s press conference and Q&A
When asked about the communication mechanism between Hong Kong and the mainland, Lam said he would have to wait for the police to take action, as the current mechanism was “useless.”
To said that, although the meeting only lasted two hours, the police asked for specific details on topics such as the two Chinese special unit minders that Lam mentioned, who he claimed accompanied him back to the city. He said that the police may host another meeting with Lam.
To added that since there was not a mutual legal assistance agreement between Hong Kong and the mainland, for the time being Lam does not have to worry about his personal safety in Hong Kong.
Lam went missing from Shenzhen last October. He was one of the five booksellers of the Causeway Bay Books to disappear last year. When British national Lee Bo disappeared from the city, it sparked concerns over cross-border kidnapping and led to protests. The booksellers then reappeared on the mainland on television “confessing” to illegally sending books banned in China across the border.
But after Lam returned to Hong Kong, he said the book posting operation was legal in Hong Kong, and that he was held under false detention.
