By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-11-15 12:46:55 | Updated at 2024-11-15 14:35:52
1 hour ago
A Hong Kong court has handed down a jail term of nearly 24 years to the mastermind of a bomb plot targeting police during the 2019 civil unrest, the longest sentence related to the months-long protests.
The thwarted plot that was to be carried out on December 8, 2019, involved firearms and up to 20kg of explosives. Mastermind Ng Chi-hung, 28, had hatched the plot with a group called the “Dragon Slaying Brigade”, led by Wong Chun-keung, 26, who was also jailed for 13½ years.
The high-profile case involved 14 defendants, with 10 of them being charged under an anti-terrorism law. Six of the seven defendants sentenced on Thursday had pleaded guilty to the charges, while six others who denied them were earlier acquitted by a jury – a seventh member of that group who pleaded not guilty was jailed.
Aside from Ng and Wong, the five others were given jail terms ranging from five years and 10 months to 12 years. The judge earlier jailed one defendant for seven years and four months.
The Post takes a look at the case after months of legal proceedings.
1. What did the plot entail?
The court was told the “Dragon Slaying Brigade” had planned to draw police out onto the streets in Wan Chai on December 8, 2019, while Ng would detonate a small bomb packed with 2kg of explosives near a petrol station.
