Hong Kong protests: family of bomb plot suspect caught by China’s coastguard unaware of plan to abscond, court hears
- Student Cheung Chun-fu, 22, and two other defendants among 12 arrested by coastguard while fleeing to Taiwan, prosecutors tell court
- Trio among nine men charged in five separate cases over an alleged bomb plot to kill police officers during an anti-government rally last year
The mainland authorities announced the arrest of the 12 three days later, with the group remanded in Shenzhen’s Yantian district, where they were reportedly denied their right to meet lawyers.
The trio were among nine men charged in five separate cases over an alleged bomb plot to kill police officers during an anti-government rally on December 8. The bail conditions of the three included an order not to leave Hong Kong and surrendering all travel documents to the court.
Public prosecutor Stella Lo said: “The Hong Kong Police Force received information from mainland authorities that [the three defendants] were arrested on a vessel outside Hong Kong waters, in Chinese territory.”
At Monday’s hearing, Cheung’s lawyer Douglas Kwok King-hin said his client’s younger brother, who stood the surety for Cheung, reported his disappearance to police two days after he was caught by the coastguard. The younger Cheung did not monitor his brother’s whereabouts because he was “very busy”, Kwok added.