Former Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang saw his misconduct conviction quashed by the city’s top court on Wednesday, the final twist to one of the financial hub’s most high-profile corruption cases.
Tsang was jailed in 2017 after being found guilty of failing to disclose his plans to lease a luxury flat from a major investor in a broadcaster, which was later granted a licence from the government while he was leader. The 74-year-old, who held the leadership post of chief executive for seven years from 2005, was the most senior city official ever to be convicted in a criminal trial and the highest-ranking one to be put behind bars. But on Wednesday he was exonerated by the Court of Final Appeal which quashed his misconduct in public office conviction, ending a seven-year legal ordeal. Tsang, who was released from jail in January on health grounds, was not present in court for Wednesday’s verdict.
The unanimous decision overturned two lower court rulings which found that his failure to make a declaration of interest over the flat deserved steep punishment because of the high office he held. The acquittal revolved around improper directions given by the trial judge to the jury over the misconduct charge, given jurors had cleared Tsang of a more serious bribery offence.