[Dragon Slaying Squad Case]The jury found seven defendants guilty of terrorism and only one of them guilty of conspiracy to bomb.
The Dragon Slaying Squad and another unknown squad were involved in planning to kill police officers with bombs in 2019. For the first time, the Department of Justice used the Anti-Terrorism Ordinance to prosecute anti-amendment cases. The 6 men and 1 woman involved in the case pleaded not guilty. After an 81-day trial, the 9-person jury began deliberating on Tuesday (27th) and reached a verdict in the High Court today (29th) on “conspiracy” under the Anti-Terrorism Ordinance. “Explosion of a prescribed subject” and “Conspiracy to provide or raise property to commit terrorist acts”. All the defendants were found not guilty. Only defendant Lai Zhenbang was found guilty of an alternate charge by a large margin of 7 to 2. become. The six acquitted defendants smiled after hearing the verdict; except for Lai Zhenbang, who was convicted, and Zhang Junfu, who had earlier admitted to possession of explosives and other crimes, and had to be remanded in custody, the other five defendants were immediately released.
The 6 male and 1 female defendants who have pleaded not guilty face a total of 5 charges. Among them, the 6 male defendants Zhang Junfu, Zhang Mingyu, Yan Wenqian, Li Jiatian, Lai Zhenbang and Xu Zhanrong were charged with conspiracy to commit crimes against specified subjects under the Anti-Terrorism Ordinance. Explosion, and the alternate charge of conspiracy to cause an explosion that is likely to endanger life or cause serious damage to property; the six people were also charged with one count of conspiracy to commit murder, and Li Jiatian was also charged with one count of committing murder with intent to endanger life. Possession of firearms and ammunition. The female defendant Liu Pei Ning was charged with one count of conspiracy to provide or raise property to commit terrorist acts under the Anti-Terrorism Ordinance.
Chief Superintendent of the National Security Division of the Police Force, Li Guihua, responded to the case ruling by saying that the nature of this case is serious, involving real guns and explosives, and can cause a large number of casualties, including police officers or people marching at the time. It is a very complete plan. He also emphasized that it was earlier Seven defendants have previously pleaded guilty.
Guild member and senior barrister Tong Jiahua said in an interview with the media that he believed that the jury would make a verdict based on the facts. However, based on his personal observation in his career, unless there were obvious circumstances of the case, the jury would make a decision based on emotion and perception. The situation is more difficult to rule out, and the judge has more professional knowledge, so he will choose to “trust the judge more than the jury.”
He also pointed out that the “Dragon Slaying Squad” case was not a national security case and appeared before the “Maintaining National Security Ordinance”, so this condition does not apply. He believed that if a similar case unfortunately occurs again, it would be prosecuted under the “Maintaining National Security Ordinance”. The chance is higher.
When asked whether all relevant cases should abandon juries and use designated judges, Tong Jiahua pointed out that legally Hong Kong needs to respond to the requirements of international human rights conventions. He also pointed out that all national security law cases currently adopt “three-judge trials” and are now “far from “2019 is not too far away”, and believes that whether there should be a jury cannot be decided based on “like or dislike”.
Image source: Hong Kong people talk about the ground
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