A Hong Kong court has sentenced Donald Tsang, the Chinese territory’s former chief executive, to 20 months in prison on charges of official misconduct.
The 72-year-old Tsang was found guilty last week for failing to disclose his negotiations to lease a luxury apartment from a major investor in a communications company seeking a digital broadcasting license from the government.
“Never in my judicial career have I seen a man fallen from such a height,” said High Court judge Andrew Chan when he delivered Tsang’s sentence Wednesday.
The conviction sullies a long and otherwise distinguished public service career for Tsang, who led Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012. He is the highest-ranking official to be convicted of a crime in Hong Kong history. He faces a retrial in September on a separate bribery charge; jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision in that case.
The territory, with a reputation of clean governance, has been shaken over a string of public corruption cases in recent years.
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