By Roland Lim, Hong Kong Bureau Chief,Channel NewsAsia
POSTED: 22 Jul 2015 10:43 UPDATED: 22 Jul 2015 11:09
HONG KONG: Five men and one woman were to face a Hong Kong court Wednesday (Jul 22) charged with conspiracy to manufacture explosives.
They have been accused of allegedly plotting to detonate bombs at government facilities in the territory.
Police arrested 10 suspects in June, just days before a crucial vote in the Legislature on a controversial electoral reform bill.
It is one of the biggest seizures of bomb-making materials in the city, though there have not been any terror attacks in Hong Kong's recent history.
Hong Kong police suggested some of the suspects are members of a local radical group that had planned to launch a bomb attack in downtown Hong Kong.
The six who are back in court are part of a group of 10 people arrested in June after police found explosives and bomb-making chemicals in an abandoned TV studio in the eastern district of Sai Kung.
Five have since been freed on bail, while five men remain in police custody.
Chemicals recovered at the scene were ingredients normally used to make smoke grenades and TATP, the volatile explosive used in the 2005 London bombing.
Police also discovered maps, air rifles, a 3D printer, political stickers and pamphlets, and Guy Fawkes masks.
Police have not revealed the exact targets identified on the recovered maps except for the mention of the two central districts, Admiralty and Wanchai.
Authorities say investigations show that two men in the group were just about to test explosives, before they were detained.
One of the accused admitted to being in a radical group the National Independent Party, which advocates for an independent Hong Kong.
Defence lawyers claim their clients have been threatened and assaulted, while in police custody.
The five men and one woman charged are expected to enter their pleas, before a hearing date is set at the High Court.
The charge of bomb-making is a serious crime in the city, which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years.
- CNA/jb
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/mobile/asiapacific/six-face-hong-kong-court/1999784.html
