District council candidate's relatives jailed two months for vote-rigging in March poll
Siblings get 2 months' prison for using false addresses, but are on bail pending appeal
Two relatives of a candidate in last year's district council election were given two months in jail yesterday, after they provided false addresses and voted in the election.
Brother and sister Chan Yuet-sun, 40, and Chan Siu-kwan, 44, were granted bail in the Kowloon City Court pending an appeal application after receiving the most severe sentence meted out since the first conviction for vote-rigging in March.
Lawyer Thomas Iu said they were "not someone who was passionate about politics", had received no advantages in giving their false addresses and had been unaware of the consequences.
But Acting Principal Magistrate Peter Law Tak-chuen said vote-rigging was a very serious offence against the "keystone" of civilisation and democracy.
The behaviour of the pair, who pleaded guilty last month, had affected the fairness of the election, so imprisonment was necessary.
The court heard that the siblings worked in a noodle shop run by Wong Biu, who was married to another sister and was a candidate in the King's Park constituency.