3 human rights activists barred from Hong Kong

Three human rights activists who planned to protest during Hong Kong's leg of the Olympic torch relay have been barred from entering the Chinese-ruled territory, one of the activists said Sunday.

The alleged denial of entry came days before the torch's arrival in Hong Kong on Wednesday — its return to Chinese soil after a global tour marred by protests against China's human rights record.

Protests were also expected when the torch arrives in this former British colony because it enjoys Western-style civil liberties, including the freedom to protest, which are denied in the mainland.

The three activists — Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot and his two sons — were questioned for almost six hours upon arriving from Denmark on Saturday, said cameraman Niels Madsen, who traveled with the trio to document their activities in Hong Kong. They were later escorted by heavily armed police onto a flight back home, Madsen said.

Madsen said he was allowed to enter the city without any questioning, however.

Back home in Copenhagen, Galschiot said he had visited Hong Kong twice before and was surprised and disappointed at being blocked this time.

"My point of view is that Hong Kong is a democratic place. This is the only place in China where (people) respect for freedom of expression, where (people) respect for human rights," he said in a telephone interview broadcast at a news conference in Hong Kong.

He said Hong Kong immigration officials did not explain why he was refused entry and asked him to sign a document. He said he did not do so because he did not know what it was about.

Galschiot also said on the Web site of his human rights group, Color Orange, that its members were questioned separately about their visit to Hong Kong, and that their camera and mobile phones were confiscated. It was not clear if they were returned.

Spokeswoman Heidi Liu from Hong Kong's Immigration Department said the department would not comment on individual cases.

Galschiot is the sculptor of "The Pillar of Shame," which stands at Hong Kong University and depicts 50 twisted human bodies to mourn pro-democracy demonstrators killed in the military crackdown at Tiananmen Square in Beijing in June 1989.