Three men were on Friday found guilty of possessing and conspiring to make explosives ahead of a contentious 2015 vote on political reform by a Hong Kong court.
The trio were arrested along with two others at a time of heightened political tension in Hong Kong, following the failure of mass “Umbrella movement” rallies to win democratic reform for the territory.
The five were detained as legislators prepared to vote on a Beijing-backed reform bill on how Hong Kong should choose its next leader.
The legislation, which stipulated that candidates must be vetted by a committee loyal to Beijing, was eventually voted down.
The jury at the Hong Kong High Court found Rizzy Pennelli, 24, guilty of one count of conspiracy to make explosives and two counts of possessing explosives.
Cheng Wai-shing (鄭偉成), 31, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to make explosives and one count of possessing explosives, with Chan Yiu-shing (陳耀成), 36, guilty of one count of possessing explosives.
Defendants Wu Kai-fu (胡啟賦) and Man Ting-lock (文廷洛) were acquitted.
The court heard how the defendants had joined an anti-government group that had discussed causing “chaos” around the vote.
Local media previously reported that the group advocated independence for Hong Kong.
On the trial’s first day, prosecutors said the group had tried to make explosives at an abandoned graffiti-covered television studio in the northeastern district of Sai Kung.
Police had seen flashes and smoke coming out of the building and had discovered acid, hydrogen peroxide and acetone during a raid, prosecutor Jonathan Man Tak-ho told the jury.
“There was a shadow of threat, there was a threat that never was carried out,” John Haynes, defending Pennelli, told the judge on Friday.
“At the time of the arrest ... the state of materials wasn’t in a condition for completing some sort of a massive bomb,” he added.
The sentencing hearing is set for Dec. 8.
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