Oasis
18th Mar 2014, 12:36
Finn fights bomb-hoax charge
Qi Luo
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
A bar of chocolate and the word hijack landed a Finnish man in the Tsuen Wan Magistracy.
Manselius Antti Oskari, 23, pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges of disrupting public order and making a false claim of a bomb on a Cathay Pacific flight from Amsterdam to Hong Kong last month.
The hearing was adjourned to April 27. Oskari was remanded in custody.
The prosecution said it will summon five witnesses, including another Finnish passenger, who were on the flight.
The defendant had requested cash bail of HK$400 and 200 euros (HK$2,165).
But acting principal magistrate Joseph To Ho-shing rejected the request, saying the charge was serious, and also because Oskari did not have any local contact and could flee.
The prosecution alleges that on February 14, Oskari wrapped himself in a blanket and held up a chocolate bar, telling the crew he was hijacking the plane and wanted it diverted to Sochi so he could watch the Winter Olympics.
He also allegedly claimed there was a bomb in the first-class cabin.
The crew searched him and found nothing. He was arrested when the plane landed in Hong Kong without incident.
In another bomb hoax case, a Shanghai woman, Ju Zhirong, 31, rejected the service of a lawyer on duty and requested the case be conducted in English.
According to the charge sheet, Ju was not allowed to board a flight to Vietnam on Saturday as she did not have a ticket.
She then quarreled with the ground crew and demanded they help her board the flight or she would stop the plane from flying by telling the police there was a bomb on board.
Ju repeatedly told magistrate To that she was from the mainland and did not know the laws in Hong Kong.
To remanded her in a mental institute and asked for a psychiatric report after suspecting she may be suffering from a mental condition.
The case was adjourned to March 31.
Under the Public Order Ordinance, a bomb hoax is a serious crime and anyone found guilty of the offense can be fined up to HK$150,000 and jailed for five years.
Qi Luo
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
A bar of chocolate and the word hijack landed a Finnish man in the Tsuen Wan Magistracy.
Manselius Antti Oskari, 23, pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges of disrupting public order and making a false claim of a bomb on a Cathay Pacific flight from Amsterdam to Hong Kong last month.
The hearing was adjourned to April 27. Oskari was remanded in custody.
The prosecution said it will summon five witnesses, including another Finnish passenger, who were on the flight.
The defendant had requested cash bail of HK$400 and 200 euros (HK$2,165).
But acting principal magistrate Joseph To Ho-shing rejected the request, saying the charge was serious, and also because Oskari did not have any local contact and could flee.
The prosecution alleges that on February 14, Oskari wrapped himself in a blanket and held up a chocolate bar, telling the crew he was hijacking the plane and wanted it diverted to Sochi so he could watch the Winter Olympics.
He also allegedly claimed there was a bomb in the first-class cabin.
The crew searched him and found nothing. He was arrested when the plane landed in Hong Kong without incident.
In another bomb hoax case, a Shanghai woman, Ju Zhirong, 31, rejected the service of a lawyer on duty and requested the case be conducted in English.
According to the charge sheet, Ju was not allowed to board a flight to Vietnam on Saturday as she did not have a ticket.
She then quarreled with the ground crew and demanded they help her board the flight or she would stop the plane from flying by telling the police there was a bomb on board.
Ju repeatedly told magistrate To that she was from the mainland and did not know the laws in Hong Kong.
To remanded her in a mental institute and asked for a psychiatric report after suspecting she may be suffering from a mental condition.
The case was adjourned to March 31.
Under the Public Order Ordinance, a bomb hoax is a serious crime and anyone found guilty of the offense can be fined up to HK$150,000 and jailed for five years.