Hong Kong judge orders former city leader Donald Tsang to pay HK$4.6 million in court costs
Tsang, who served as chief executive from 2005 to 2012, must pay costs after judge says there were ‘special circumstances’ in his case
The disgraced former chief executive, who served in office from 2005 to 2012, was sentenced in February last year to 20 months in prison after he was found guilty of one count of misconduct in public office and was acquitted of another misconduct charge.
Former Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang says court fees for bribery trial ‘unjust and unreasonable’
Although prosecutors decided not to press for a third trial on the bribery charge, they asked the court to order Tsang to pay for a third of HK$13.7 million it cost to mount a case, accusing the 73-year-old of failing to provide documents and other actions that delayed the investigation.
In handing down his ruling on Tuesday, Mr Justice Andrew Chan Hing-wai said Tsang’s behaviour lacked truthfulness and was “far from cooperative”.
“As a result, an enormous amount of time and manpower had been put into the investigation unnecessarily on undeniable facts,” Chan wrote in his judgment. “I am of the view that there are special circumstances in this case that warrant the imposition of the cost … against the defendant.”