Hong Kong Lawmaker ‘lengthy Hair’ Is Arrested Over Donation

An competition lawmaker in Hong Kong became arrested and charged on Thursday with failing to declare a donation of approximately $32,000 from Jimmy Lai, an outspoken media tycoon who's essential of the Beijing authorities.

The lawmaker, Leung Kwok-hung, referred to as long Hair for his unkempt coiffure, turned into accused by using Hong Kong anticorruption investigators of concealing the charge, made in 2012, from the metropolis’s legislature. Procedural rules require him to declare such donations.

Mr. Lai, additionally referred to as Lai Chee-ying, based and owns next Media, which publishes the Apple day by day newspaper and next magazine in Hong Kong. Apple daily also publishes in Taiwan.

each guys have been central figures inside the seasoned-democracy Occupy principal protests, which roiled Hong Kong for months beginning in late 2014.

Hong Kong is a semiautonomous chinese language territory with its own legislature, the Legislative Council. Elections for the next legislative consultation will be held in September, and the arrest comes about a month before the begin of nominations.

The unbiased fee towards Corruption said in a information release that it arrested Mr. Leung and charged him with misconduct in public office. The organisation said Mr. Leung had failed to declare his recognition of the donation, which turned into acquired via Mr. Lai’s accomplice Mark Simon. The company added that the case had arisen from a corruption criticism and that the inquiries that accompanied discovered Mr. Leung’s suspected offense. The commission declined to comment in addition on Thursday.

Mr. Leung, 60, said in a submit on fb that commission officials came to his home approximately 6:30 a.m. on Thursday. He changed into launched on bail and is scheduled to seem in district courtroom on Friday for a procedural listening to.

regarding the money, Mr. Leung said by using telephone on Thursday afternoon, “I gave to the party, to a publishing residence, i will’t recall the memory, however I need to talk to a lawyer and defend myself now.” He stated he couldn't talk the problem similarly due to the fact he had no longer yet talked to his lawyer.

Get information and evaluation from Asia and around the sector delivered to your inbox each day within the Asian morning.

 He mentioned that the prices came just ahead of nominations for election to the Legislative Council. “It’s nearly like a smear, you understand,” he stated.

“I said earlier than, if the government wants to press expenses to all and sundry, they are succesful,” he delivered.

In an in advance publish on fb, he wrote, “He who has a mind to beat his dog will without problems discover his stick.”

Mr. Simon, in an e mail, stated, “Legislator Leung is a uniquely fantastic presence in Hong Kong, and so as I don't have any idea what that is all approximately, it’s first-class, for this rare event, I preserve my normally wide-open mouth closed.” He introduced that he had no longer been contacted by using the anticorruption council.

Legislative regulations require lawmakers to claim donations inside two weeks, and Mr. Leung has formerly been cleared of wrongdoing on the subject of other payments that have been now not straight away reported.

according to a statement he made to a fee of lawmakers investigating the earlier donations, Mr. Leung admitted to receiving approximately $64,000 from Mr. Lai in 2013 on behalf of the League of Social Democrats, a party with which he is affiliated.

Mr. Leung contended that he had received the cash from Mr. Lai on behalf of the party, not in his ability as a lawmaker. ultimate December, the committee sided with Mr. Leung in saying that he had now not violated the legislature’s policies.

Mr. Leung has declared receiving donations totaling approximately $115,000 within the modern-day legislative session, which started in 2012, in keeping with the legislature’s facts.

The South China Morning submit, a newspaper in Hong Kong, reported in 2014 that Mr. Lai had donated hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong dollars over several years to competition lawmakers and democracy advocates, bringing up laptop information leaked online.

other lawmakers have declared the receipt of donations from Mr. Lai when you consider that at least 2007, according to the legislature’s data.