Dragon leader wanted to 'explain it all,' court told

The leader of the "Dragon Slaying Brigade" group, Wong Chun-keung, considered the mastermind of the plot, had met with national security police officers 10 times while in custody and had expressed his desire to "explain everything" and plead guilty, the court heard yesterday at the city's first anti-terrorism laws trial.

One of the officers, Lau Wai-hung, testified in court that he had met with Wong on multiple occasions based on a notification from the Correctional Services Department. However, he admitted to destroying his handwritten notes after seven of these meetings without consulting his superiors.

When questioned by Dick Lee Kwok-foo, the lawyer representing one of the defendants in the trial, Lau said: "I destroyed the notes from the meeting on May 19, which took place shortly after Wong's arrest, when I returned to the office."

Lau claimed that during that particular meeting, Wong expressed his intention to plead guilty. Lau advised Wong to inform his legal representative about his intentions rather than discussing it with the police.

In subsequent meetings on June 15 and June 27, Wong reiterated his willingness to plead guilty.

It was only during the fourth meeting on August 24 that the police were informed that they could record Wong's witness statement.

But Lau did not take a word-for-word account of Wong's statement.

Wong eventually signed a written statement that exceeded 100 pages on September 16. Lau admitted to destroying earlier drafts of the statement, citing that Wong had not signed them.

Defense lawyers also raised concerns about the absence of Wong's legal representative during the statement-giving process, which should have been a standard practice.

It was also revealed that the officers did not inquire about the offense for which Wong intended to plead guilty.

Six men and one woman are on trial for allegedly planning to use firearms and detonate bombs to target the police during the Human Rights Day march on December 8, 2019.

The six male defendants - Cheung Chun-fu, 24, Cheung Ming-yu, 21, Yim Man-him, 22, Christian Lee Ka-tin, 25, Lai Chun-pong, 30, and Justin Hui Cham-wing, 25 - have all pleaded not guilty.

The female defendant, Lau Pui-ying, 24, also pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiring to provide or collect property for committing terror acts.

eunice.lam@singtaonewscorp.com