Tsang pleads not guilty as his trial begins at Hong Kong’s High Court
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HONG Kong’s former leader Donald Tsang, who ended his term in disgrace after accepting favors from tycoons, pleaded not guilty to bribery charges yesterday when he appeared at the city’s High Court.
Tsang, 72, held the leadership post of chief executive for seven years from 2005 and is the highest-ranking Hong Kong official to face a corruption trial.
Wearing his customary suit and bow-tie, a somber-looking Tsang arrived hand-in-hand with his wife at the city’s High Court over an hour before the hearing was due to begin yesterday morning.
He pleaded not guilty to three charges of misconduct and bribery during the time he was chief executive. Each charge carries a maximum jail term of seven years.
He is accused of failing to disclose plans to lease a luxury penthouse in the neighboring city of Shenzhen from a major investor in a broadcaster which at the time was seeking a license from the Hong Kong government.
Tsang is alleged to have approved the company’s license application, and also failed to declare that an architect he proposed for a government award had been employed as an interior designer for the apartment.
The hearing is expected to last 20 days.
Tsang previously said he had “every confidence” he would be exonerated.
In 2012 he apologized for separate allegations he accepted inappropriate gifts from business friends in the form of trips on yachts and private jets.
The trial comes at a time when a string of high-profile corruption cases in Hong Kong fuel public suspicions over cosy links between authorities and business leaders.
In 2014, Tsang’s deputy Rafael Hui was jailed for seven-and-a-half years after being found guilty of taking bribes from Hong Kong property tycoon Thomas Kwok.
Tsang, nicknamed “bow tie Tsang” for his sartorial flourish, became the financial hub’s second chief executive in 2005 after his predecessor Tung Chee-hwa resigned.
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