In Hong Kong, a man named Ng Chi-hung has been sentenced to 23 years and 10 months in prison for being the mastermind of an alleged plot to attack police with explosives during the city’s pro-democracy and anti-China protests in 2019. Another defendant, Wong Chun-keung, was sentenced to 13 years and six months imprisonment for his involvement in the plot. Five others were also sentenced to between 5 years and 10 months and 12 years for various offenses related to possessing firearms and abetting the manufacture of explosives.
This sentencing is part of a larger national security clampdown by China in Hong Kong, and marks the first time the U.N. anti-terrorism ordinance has been used in the city since 2002. The judge described the plot as premeditated, vicious, and a “declaration of war on society.”
The police believe that the heavy sentences will have a deterrent effect, as they seized explosives, bullets, and arrested the defendants before they were able to carry out their plan to plant two bombs during a protest march in December 2019. One defendant, Lai Chun-pong, was jailed for 10 years and 10 months after being found guilty by a jury in August.
This ruling comes shortly before 45 leading democrats in Hong Kong are set to face sentencing in a separate national security case for an alleged subversive plot from 2020.
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