Hong Kong judge tells jury in bomb plot case to consider impact of 2019 protests

High Court judge gives seventh day of legal instructions to jury in trial of seven over thwarted bomb plot targeting police in Wan Chai

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The thwarted bomb plot was set to place during a lawful assembly amid the 2019 protests, the court earlier heard. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 6:21pm, 26 Aug 2024Updated: 6:34pm, 26 Aug 2024

The Hong Kong judge presiding over the trial for a 2019 thwarted bomb plot has told jurors to consider the context of the social unrest at the time and that the attack was set to take place during a lawful assembly involving many civilians.

As the High Court trial entered its seventh day of Mrs Justice Judianna Wai-ling Barnes giving legal instructions to the nine jurors, she told the panel it would be “impossible” for them not to consider the impact of the social unrest as they examined evidence from the plot to plant two bombs in Wan Chai on December 8, 2019.

“You cannot put aside [such background] and think this plot was just a group of people who wanted to use guns and bombs to kill police,” she said.

“It was not just planting a bomb on the street. We are talking about a large-scale protest in which many civilians at that time went out on the street.”

Barnes instructed the jury to consider the fact that any bombing during the 2019 unrest would have had a different impact when compared with such actions amid the current political climate.

The court has heard evidence since April for the case against seven defendants suspected of being connected to the thwarted plot.