Jurors begin deliberations on fate of 7 Hong Kong defendants in bomb plot to kill police
- Judge delivers legal instructions and asks nine jurors to decide if defendants linked to ‘Dragon Slaying Brigade’ guilty of conspiracy
A nine-member jury in a Hong Kong court has retired to decide the fate of seven defendants allegedly involved in a thwarted bomb plot to kill police officers during the 2019 social unrest.
Mrs Justice Judianna Wai-ling Barnes delivered deliberation instructions to jurors in the High Court on Tuesday and asked them to decide whether the six men and a woman were involved in a plot to plant two bombs in Wan Chai on December 8, 2019.
Deliberations are expected to last for more than a day.
The six men linked to the “Dragon Slaying Brigade” and a team it partnered pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiring to commit the bombing of prescribed objects. The defendants are Cheung Chun-fu, Cheung Ming-yu, Yim Man-him, Christian Lee Ka-tin, Lai Chun-pong and Justin Hui Cham-wing.
The seventh defendant, Lau Pui-ying, denied a charge of conspiracy to provide or collect property to commit terrorist acts.
Brigade leader Wong Chun-keung earlier pleaded guilty and turned prosecution witness. He testified against his former teammates, who were allegedly aware of the conspiracy and agreed to take part in baiting police officers as plot mastermind Ng Chi-hung coordinated the detonation of the bombs.