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 2017. 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.
香港一家法院以公职人员行为失当罪判处前特首曾荫权监禁20个月。
现年72岁的曾荫权上周被定罪，获罪的原因是未披露向一家通信公司的主要投资者租赁豪华公寓的谈判。该公司当时正在寻求政府发放的数字广播许可证。
此案法官陈庆伟(Andrew Chan)周三上午判决时表示，“在我的司法生涯中，从来没有看见一个人从这样的高位跌落。”
这项定罪使曾荫权漫长的、甚至可算是卓越的公职生涯蒙污。曾荫权从2005年到2017年担任香港特首。他是香港历史上被定罪的最高级官员。他9月份还面临另一起贿赂案的重审。之前陪审员们未能就此案达成一致决定。
香港一直有廉政的美名，但近年来的一系列公共腐败案件给香港带来震撼。