The ringleader of the “Dragon Slayer Brigade”, a team behind a thwarted 2019 bomb plot targeting Hong Kong police, appealed to supporters for sustained crowdfunding in their quest to kill at least 30 officers during a protest, a court has heard.
Plot mastermind Wong Chun-keung told the High Court on Friday he and defendant Lau Pui-ying co-managed a channel on Telegram, an encrypted messaging service, in November 2019 to receive money from an anti-government faction, to buy firearms meant for use in a protest on December 8 that year.
Lau is the only woman among the seven defendants standing trial over charges under the United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) Ordinance.
Telegram chat records displayed in court showed Wong sent a message to the group two days before they planned to carry out the plot, asking for financial support for the team’s escape if they were successful.
The message from Wong said: “[Comrades] who are willing to play an ‘online game’ with us, we plan on collecting at least 30 ‘dragon hearts’. Are you willing to give us sustained financial support?”
He said “dragon heart” was insider slang that meant the life of a police officer.
Wong also testified that he wrote other messages in the channel to appeal for donations.
“The purpose was to stir up [supporters’] emotions and ask them to make donations,” he said.
The prosecution last month told the court that the Dragon Slayer Brigade, founded by Wong and comprising about 10 “valiant” protesters, handled more than HK$2 million (US$255,230) raised through crowdfunding between August and December 2019.
Wong and Lau were jointly charged with one count of conspiracy to provide or collect property to commit terrorist acts, which Lau denied but Wong had pleaded guilty to.
Wong also pleaded guilty to a joint count of conspiracy to plant two bombs in Wan Chai on December 8, 2019. Six other defendants, including his alleged team member Yim Man-him, denied the charge.
Wong said on Friday that Yim had introduced him to Lau in November 2019. At the time, Lau was managing another public Telegram channel used to disseminate protest-related information.
After a few chat sessions with Lau, she took the initiative in early November to start a new Telegram channel which solely served crowdfunding purposes, Wong said.
“You focus on fighting, and I will take care of this [channel],” said a message between Wong and Lau shown in court.
Wong said Lau’s role was mainly to manage posts and messages in the channel.
Wong also revealed he was the only person in charge of finances for the team, and Lau had to transfer all the deposits made by protesters to his accounts.
“I instructed Lau to show me all the donations she received every day and keep a record of how much crowdfunding this channel had received,” he said.
Wong said he made the final decisions on what should be posted on the channel, including a video that showed the team’s action of confronting officers, and two interviews it gave to now-defunct media outlets Apple Daily and Stand News.
He added that after the video and interview content went viral among supporters, he instructed Lau to only reply to messages from those who wanted to make donations.
Wong said Lau estimated the team had about HK$500,000 in savings and asked if he wanted to give HK$100,000 to another group of frontline protesters who demanded it.
The court did not hear evidence that suggested Lau was one of the members of the Dragon Slayer team.
Wong also said he was not in charge of recruiting new members.
The hearing continues on Monday.
