Hong Kong Department of Justice charges 10 people with conspiracy to bomb under UN anti-terrorism ordinance
On the eve of the International Human Rights Day on December 8, 2019, hosted by the Hong Kong Civil Human Rights Front (CDF), which was disbanded last year, Hong Kong police seized weapons such as pistols and bullets in various districts, and arrested a total of 13 people in the process. For the first time, the Hong Kong Department of Justice has cited the United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) Ordinance to charge 10 of them with conspiracy to commit the crime of bombing a prescribed mark.
The case was arraigned at Eastern Magistrates' Courts on Monday (October 3). Magistrate Liu Shuxian committed all the defendants to the High Court for trial. The defendants did not apply for bail and continued to be remanded in custody.
According to reports from Hong Kong's Ming Pao and China News Agency, the 13 defendants were between the ages of 19 and 33 at the time of the crime, including three of them in the "12 Hong Kong People Case" (Hong Kong people who absconded from Taiwan and were arrested in 2020), Zhang Junfu, Zhang Mingyu, and Yan Wenqian, the owner of the "3C Maintenance Studio" Lai Zhenbang, the 19-year-old Su Weixuan who was involved in shooting and attacking the police in Tai Po in 2019, Zhong Xueying, a former member of the Local Democracy Front, and Huang Zhenqiang, Ng Chi-hung, Peng Junchiu, Li Jiatian, Xu Zhanrong, Cai Kaiming and Chen Yulong.
Except for Cai Kaiming, Chen Yulong and Zhong Xueying, the remaining 10 defendants were charged with "conspiracy to commit a prescribed bombing offence" under Section 11B of the United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) Regulations, which means that between August 1 and December 8, 2019, they and other persons unlawfully and intentionally delivered, placed or detonated two explosive devices to specific targets with the intent to cause death or serious bodily harm. The offence is punishable by life imprisonment.
The above 10 defendants were charged with conspiracy to murder a police officer. Cai Kaiming, Chen Yulong and Zhong Xueying were charged with possession of firearms or ammunition with intent to endanger life, aiding and abetting the manufacture of explosives with intent to destroy property, etc.