Teen from pro-independence Returning Valiant jailed five years and eight months over bomb plots

A 21-year-old member of pro-independence Returning Valiant was jailed Thursday for five years and eight months for renting a flat for bomb-making, while three co-defendants under the age of 21 were sent to a training center. 

The young man sentenced to imprisonment was Alexander Au, and the other three were Chan Cheuk-hin, 17, Law Kai-wing, 17, and Su Wing-chin, 20. 

The four of them, alongside 20-year-old Kwok Man-hei and 19-year-old mastermind Ho Yu-wang, were all charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism under the Hong Kong National Security Law. 

Ho pleaded guilty to the charge earlier this month, while the other remaining five pleaded guilty to the alternate charge of attempt to cause an explosion with intent to endanger life or property. 

They allegedly planned the bomb attack throughout the city between April 1 and July 5, 2021. However, they were arrested by national security police in July before they procured the materials. 

In High Court today, Judge Alex Lee Wan-tang referred to Ho’s notebook that specified details of terrorist attacks with the aim to “ruin Hong Kong’s stable structure” and “to conveniently build a resistance force afterward.” 

Au rented a Tsim Sha Tsui motel room for bomb-making and inspected their targets, including court buildings in Kwun Tong and Tuen Mun, with Ho and Chan. Law agreed he would get paid HK$500 after planting the bombs, and Su would buy the necessary chemicals, but failed. 

“It was lucky that police took actions after investigations and stopped everything when the defendants were still plotting their crimes,” Lee said, adding that the defendants ended up not making a single bomb, no one was hurt, and no property was damaged. 

Should they succeed, the already poor social situations during the protests would definitely worsen. Successful bomb attacks on courthouses would also significantly weaken the dignity of the city’s judiciary, Lee noted. 

Passing down the sentences, Lee said Au was “obviously more culpable,” while the trio was “merely foot soldiers in the conspiracy.” 

Lee then sentenced Au to five years and eight months in prison and sent the trio to a training center after considering social interests and rehabilitation opportunities. 

The sentencing for Kwok and Ho was adjourned to September 27. 

This was the second case brought using Hong Kong’s national security law in which minors were convicted and sentenced. 

The first national security case involving minors concluded in October, with four teenagers – also members of Returning Valiant – sentenced to detention in a juvenile training center. 

They had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to incite subversion over public speeches about revolutions. 

(Neo Tsim and AFP)

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