Former Democratic Party chairman Martin Lee Chu-ming says he is unconvinced that the Hong Kong man arrested by Shenzhen police is really a mastermind behind a plot to harm him and tycoon publisher Jimmy Lai Chee-ying.
Mr Lee said yesterday that he did not know the alleged mastermind, Tung Nga-man, who is a Hong Kong resident, and that he could not think of any reason he would have wanted to send a gunman to kill him.
The Sunday Morning Post yesterday reported that Shenzhen police had arrested a suspected mastermind and his accomplices behind a plot. They were said to have strong links with Hong Kong triad societies.
According to the notice on the website of the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court, the case is scheduled to go before the court on Thursday. Tung and nine others will face charges of attempting to kill. The trial, beginning in the No 2 courtroom at 10am, is scheduled to take two days. The other accused are Yu Weishan, Chen Shaoming, Huang Fuhan, Zhu Yinghua, Zhan Zunshuo, Li Hongzhuang, Tam Yaosong, Zhang Suiling and Xie Huijun.
Mr Lee, a barrister, said: 'I do not know Mr Tung. Whether he is the mastermind or not, I do not know. I have not heard his name at all. They say the people are from triad societies. But I have nothing to do with triad societies.
'I hope the police continue investigating and find out the true motive behind the plot.