An alleged bomb plot to murder police officers during the 2019 protests and unrest in Hong Kong could have caused heavy casualties, the prosecution has said in the city’s first trial under an anti-terrorism act.
The prosecution on Tuesday began their opening statement at the High Court after a nine-member jury was selected on Monday to hear the trial of seven people charged under the United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) Ordinance.
Prosecutor Juliana Chow said the bomb plot involved planting two homemade bombs near Emperor Group Centre at Hennessy Road in Wan Chai during a rally on December 8, 2019.
The rally was organised by the now-defunct protest group Civil Human Rights Front to mark International Human Rights Day, Chow said, adding that it was authorised by police.
Six male defendants – Cheung Chun-fu, Cheung Ming-yu, Yim Ming-him, Christian Lee, Lai Chun-pong and Justin Hui – have pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiring to commit bombing of prescribed objects under the anti-terrorism law. They face life behind bars if convicted.
The six also denied a charge of conspiring to commit murder of police officers and other offences relating to manufacturing and possession of explosives and ammunition.
Lau Pui-ying, the only female defendant in the group, stands accused of conspiring to provide or collect property to commit terrorist acts. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in jail.
The prosecution said the group conspired with others to commit the offences between August 1 and December 8, 2019.
See also: 8 plead guilty as trial of 14 accused of Hong Kong protest bomb plot begins
Citing a ballistics expert, Chow said the two bombs weighed two kilograms and eight kilograms respectively. Both of them contained steel nails measuring five centimetres in length, and they could be detonated remotely by a mobile phone.
“[The ballistics expert] concluded that the two devices had [their] explosive power amplified and would cause people within a 400-metre radius to be killed or to sustain serious injuries,” Chow said in Cantonese, adding that it was planned for the larger bomb to be planted near the police headquarters in Wan Chai.
The prosecutor displayed a map showing the vicinity of the alleged bomb site to the court, which included residential buildings and a gas station. If the bombs had exploded, they would have impacted residents nearby, she said.
“You don’t need to be too smart to know that marchers would certainly be hurt if a bomb of this scale went off in the rally,” she said.
The court previously heard that police seized four guns including an AR-15 rifle and hundreds of bullets while searching the homes of three defendants. One of the guns was shown to the jury during Tuesday’s hearing.
Chow also alleged that the group planned to gun down police officers from above in surrounding buildings, and that people could claim the guns for their own use after the officers were shot down.
“This is a case related to the social movement in 2019, as well as the different political positions in the Hong Kong society at that time… but regardless of your political views, I hope you could bear in mind that the impact of these two bombs would be indiscriminate,” Chow told the jury.
“As long as you didn’t know the bombs were there, you would be in danger,” she added.
‘Dragon Slayers’
Chow on Tuesday said the conspiracy began as a radical protester group called “Dragon Slayers” that formed in August 2019.
She said the radical group was led by Wong Chun-keung, who has pleaded guilty to offences including conspiracy to commit bombing of prescribed objects.
The group went to Taiwan for a 13-day training session in September that year and organised members to test firearms at a remote location in Sai Kung in November, the prosecutor said.
Messaging records on Telegram, shown in court by the prosecution, suggested that members of the group discussed the logistics for their trip to Taichung City, where a member said they would received military training on guns and crossbows.
A member in the chat using the alias “Winnie the Pooh,” who Chow suggested to be Cheung Ming-yu, wrote to another member after the trip, saying “when will [we] kill dogs,” Chow said. “Dogs” were a pejorative protesters used to refer to police officers during the 2019 unrest.
The group then made a field trip to an unknown location near Ham Tin Wan in Sai Kung in the early hours on November 17, the court was told.
The prosecutor also displayed a photo to the court, alleging that it was taken by Lai Chung-pong. The photograph showed a hand that appeared to be holding a bullet.
Judge Judianna Barnes said she emphasised that jurors could only form their opinions about the case based on what they hear and see in the court, before she adjourned the trial.
The trial continues on Wednesday with the prosecution expected to continue their opening statement.
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