Hong Kong Ex-Leader Jailed 20 Months For Corruption

MEP: A former leader of Hong Kong ‘Donald Tsang’ was sentenced to 20 months in prison for misconduct after failing to disclose plans to rent a luxury apartment for his retirement from a businessman applying for a broadcasting license.

Tsang led Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012 and is the most senior official in the territory ever to stand trial for corruption.

Tsang, 72, had breached the trust of Hong Kong’s people, High Court Justice Andrew Chan said while handing down the punishment.

“Never in my judicial career have I seen a man fallen from such a height,” Chan added. “However, it is not in dispute that the defendant has dedicated himself to public service for the past 40 years.”

A number of senior former officials in Hong Kong had written letters to the court in defence of Tsang’s character.

“Today is a very dark day,” his wife, Selina Tsang, told reporters after the verdict. The family was “disappointed” about the result and plans to appeal the conviction, she said.