Hong Kong bomb plot suspects accuse police of coercion
Lawyers for defendants allege officers used coercion to force them to cooperate
Six defendants charged over a bomb plot in Hong Kong yesterday accused police of assaulting them or using threats to get them to cooperate with the investigation.
The five men and one woman, aged 21 to 34, reported the alleged incidents to acting Principal Magistrate Don So Man-lung during their first appearance at Kwun Tong Court.
Rizzy Pennelli, an Italian national born and raised in Hong Kong, suffered repeated blows to various parts of his body and his private parts were "pulled", the man's lawyer, Michael Vidler, said. "A woman police officer hit him with a hard object on the neck," Vidler told the court.
Pennelli suffered bruises and abrasions over his body and face as a result, Vidler said.
Pennelli was in court along with Hongkongers Chan Yiu-shing, Cheng Wai-shing, Wu Kai-fu, Man Ting-lock and the case's sole female defendant, Sarene Chan Cheuk-lam. They face a joint count of "conspiracy to cause an explosion, or making or keeping explosive with intent to endanger life or property" between May 27 and June 14.
The six were accused of unlawfully and maliciously making an explosive substance, with which they conspired to cause an explosion in the city.