The trial of former chief executive Donald Tsang on corruption charges has been scheduled to begin on January 3, 2017 at the High Court. It will be presided over by the Hon. Madam Justice Anthea Pang Po-kam and is expected to last 20 days.
The pre-trial review will take place on September 9 this year. Tsang, 71, did not appear for the listing session in court this afternoon and was represented by his barrister, Chen Cheng-lung. The prosecution said that they will call 26 witnesses at the trial, RTHK reported.
Tsang held the post of chief executive for seven years from 2005 and is the highest-ranking Hong Kong official to face a corruption trial. He faced investigation by the city’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) as soon as he left office in June 2012.
The sluggish progress of the investigation has frequently been criticised, and he was not formally charged until October last year.
Tsang is charged with two counts of misconduct in public office. The charges relate to his failure to disclose his plans to lease a luxury flat in Shenzhen, which was owned by a major investor in a broadcaster seeking a licence from the Hong Kong government. Tsang also failed to declare that an architect he proposed for a government award was employed as an interior designer on the flat. He has pleaded not guilty at an earlier hearing which referred the case to the High Court.
