2 on trial for alleged plot on Hong Kong activist

The two are accused of plotting to kill Martin Lee, often praised in the West as a champion of human rights, and media mogul Jimmy Lai, who publishes the Hong Kong pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily, media reports said.

The alleged plot surfaced when a suspected gunman was arrested in Hong Kong in August 2008. He was sentenced to a 16-year jail term on weapons charges earlier this month.

The South China Morning Post reported Wednesday that the alleged mastermind, Tung Nga-man, 67, and his associate, Yu Wai-shan, 63, were arrested in August in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. The newspaper described the men as suspected Hong Kong gangsters. Eight others were charged with other crimes related to the plot, it said.

Tung is accused of offering $1 million to Yu to organize the murder of the two Hong Kong residents, the report quoted an unidentified Chinese police officer as saying.

The suspects went on trial at Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court on Wednesday, Hong Kong's government-owned radio RTHK reported. Citing one of the suspect's lawyers, the report said the trial was expected to last two days but no further details were available. Hong Kong journalists weren't allowed into the courtroom.

Calls to the courthouse's publicity office seeking comment went unanswered.

Lee told The Associated Press in a phone interview Wednesday he did not know Tung nor Yu and suspected the plot went beyond them.

"I didn't have any disputes with these people. I can't think of any motives that would prompt them to try to kill me, unless they were paid. They're just working for money," Lee said.

While praised in the West, Lee is seen as a troublemaker in China because of his high-profile campaign for democracy in Hong Kong. He said he didn't think the Chinese government was involved in the plot because of the potential backlash against any attempt to hurt him.

Hong Kong police declined comment. Shenzhen police also didn't immediately respond to faxed questions from the AP.

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