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Four Hong Kong students sentenced over anti-govt bomb plot

Four Hong Kong students, including two minors, were sentenced for their involvement in a plot to set off bombs in public spaces.

The oldest defendant received over five years in prison, while the others were sent to juvenile rehabilitation centers. The case was handled under the national security law imposed by China in 2020, aimed at suppressing dissent in the city.

The defendants belonged to a group advocating for independence and had planned to use explosives in public areas. Critics argue that Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedoms have been eroded since the implementation of the security law.

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HONG KONG, CHINA — Four Hong Kong students, including two minors, were sentenced Thursday over their roles in an anti-government plot to set off bombs in public spaces.

A court sentenced the oldest of the four to more than five years in prison and sent the other three to juvenile rehabilitation centres in a case handled under the national security law, which China imposed on the city in 2020 to quell dissent.

The four defendants, now aged 17 to 21, were members of a little-known group called “Returning Valiant”, which promoted independence from China and had called for resistance after the security law was imposed.

The group allegedly planned to make bombs using the explosive TATP in 2021, and set them off in public areas including court buildings.

Before they could procure the materials, Hong Kong’s national security police arrested them in July of that year.

Defendant Alexander Au, now 21, “is obviously more culpable — he was involved in renting the room, planning and preparation, and reconnaissance of targeted buildings,” said senior judge Alex Lee.

Lee sentenced Au to five years and eight months in prison.

The three others, aged 17 to 20, were “merely foot soldiers in the conspiracy” and failed to procure TATP ingredients, the judge said.

They will be sent to training centres — rehabilitation-focused juvenile facilities that can hold 14- to 20-year-olds for up to three years.

How long they stay there will depend on evaluations conducted by correctional officers at the centres.

The group had pleaded guilty this month to one count of “conspiracy to cause an explosion” instead of the primary charge of “conspiracy to carry out terrorist activities”.

The former can be punished by up to 20 years in jail under the Hong Kong crimes ordinance, but the latter can lead to a life sentence under the security law.

Further legal proceedings are pending for four other individuals, aged 19 to 26, in the bomb plot case.

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 centre.

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

The national security law was imposed after Hong Kong was shaken by huge and often violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Authorities have said it was needed to restore stability and order, but according to critics, Hong Kong has seen its autonomous status and freedoms steadily eroded since it came into force.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore hangs 14th drug convict since last year

Singapore executed Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted of drug trafficking, amid a resumption of executions in 2022. Another woman prisoner, Saridewi Djamani, faces execution.

Amnesty International urged Singapore to halt the executions, questioning the deterrent effect of the death penalty.

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26 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore on Wednesday hanged a local man convicted of drug trafficking, officials said, two days before the scheduled execution of the first woman prisoner in the city-state in nearly 20 years.

Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted and sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking “not less than 49.98 grams” (1.76 ounces) of heroin, was executed at Changi Prison, the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement.

The 57-year-old was the 14th convict sent to the gallows since the government resumed executions in March 2022 after a two-year pause during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hussain’s previous appeals against his conviction and sentence had been dismissed, and a petition for presidential clemency was also denied.

A woman drug convict, 45-year-old Saridewi Djamani, is scheduled to be hanged on Friday, according to the local rights group Transformative Justice Collective (TJC).

She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, Djamani would be the first woman executed in Singapore since 2004, when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, according to TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

Singapore has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws — trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis or over 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the executions, saying there was no evidence the death penalty acted as a deterrent to crime.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

Singapore, however, insists that the death penalty has helped make it one of Asia’s safest countries.

Among those hanged since last year was Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, whose execution sparked a global outcry, including from the United Nations and British tycoon Richard Branson, because he was deemed to have a mental disability.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore to execute first woman in nearly 20 years: rights groups

Singapore set to execute two drug convicts, including first woman in 20 years, despite rights groups’ calls to stop.

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25 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore is set to hang two drug convicts this week, including the first woman to be sent to the gallows in nearly 20 years, rights groups said Tuesday, while urging the executions be halted.

Local rights organisation Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) said a 56-year-old man convicted of trafficking 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of heroin is scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday at the Southeast Asian city-state’s Changi Prison.

A 45-year-old woman convict who TJC identified as Saridewi Djamani is also set to be sent to the gallows on Friday. She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, she would be the first woman to be executed in Singapore since 2004 when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, said TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

TJC said the two prisoners are Singaporeans and their families have received notices setting the dates of their executions.

Prison officials have not answered emailed questions from AFP seeking confirmation.

Singapore imposes the death penalty for certain crimes, including murder and some forms of kidnapping.

It also has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws: trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis and 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

At least 13 people have been hanged so far since the government resumed executions following a two-year hiatus in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the impending executions.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty’s death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

“There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs.

“As countries around the world do away with the death penalty and embrace drug policy reform, Singapore’s authorities are doing neither,” Sangiorgio added.

Singapore insists that the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent.

— AFP

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