The seven-month trial in Hong Kong centred
around a total of $4.38m in handouts.
Rafael Hui, Hong Kong's former deputy
leader, and Thomas Kwok, a property
tycoon, have been jailed for corruption in a
prominent trial that angered the city's public.
Hui, 66, was given seven and half years in
prison on Tuesday for five fraud charges,
including misconduct in a public office.
It makes him the highest-ranking official in
Hong Kong's history to be convicted of taking
bribes.
Kwok, 63, who was a joint chairman of the
biggest property company in Hong Kong, Sun
Hung Kai, was sentenced to five years in jail
after he was found guilty of conspiracy to
commit misconduct and making a series of
payments totalling $1.1m to former Hui.
Andrew Leung, an independent analyst on
China, told Al Jazeera that there was a lot of
shock surrounding Kwok's sentencing, as he
had been a respected civil servant.
"There is huge shock among the Hong Kong
people and the Hong Kong civil service," he
said.
"On the other hand, his conviction really
reaffirms that Hong Kong is a place where the
rule of law still reigns.
"The whole country, and now Hong Kong, is
trying to rid itself of this cancerous cell
[corruption] that undermines the legitimacy of
the whole government."
The seven-month trial centred around a total
of $4.38m in handouts, which the prosecution
said were made to Hui by Kwok and his
brother Raymond to be their "eyes and ears" in
government.
Charges were dropped against Raymond,
while Kwok was cleared of two out of the
three against him.
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