Hong Kong jury convicts three, acquits five in anti-terrorism trial

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By Jessie Pang

HONG KONG (Reuters) -A Hong Kong jury convicted three people and acquitted five others on Thursday over three bomb plots aimed at shutting the city’s borders during the COVID pandemic in 2020.

The defendants were accused of planting a homemade bomb in a hospital toilet and of placing a bag containing two bombs on a train carriage. Both devices detonated, but no injuries were reported. 

A group called “92 Sign” claimed responsibility on the Telegram messaging app, saying that they wanted medical workers to strike and the government to close the borders to curb the spread of COVID-19.    

The defendants were tried under the United Nations Anti-Terrorism Ordinance, implemented in Hong Kong following a Security Council resolution on countering terrorism. 

The jury found Ho Cheuk-wai, Lee Ka-pan and Cheung Ka-chun guilty of a charge of conspiracy to cause explosions with intent to endanger life or property under the crime ordinance, while clearing them of the larger offence under the UN ordinance. 

Five other defendants were found not guilty of all charges related to the bomb plot.

All of the defendants had pleaded not guilty to the charges. The maximum penalty for the conspiracy to cause explosions conviction is up to 20 years in prison.

Seven of the defendants were also accused of planting a bomb near a car park in a residential neighbourhood ahead of a memorial event for a student who died during the city’s 2019 pro-democracy protests.

The case has been adjourned until October 10 for mitigation and sentencing.

This is the second trial in Hong Kong under the UN anti-terrorism law, following a 2019 bomb plot case linked to pro-democracy protests, in which a man was sentenced to 23 years and 10 months in prison.

(Reporting by Jessie Pang; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Saad Sayeed)