Hong Kong court grants bail to former chief executive Donald Tsang

Former Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Donald Tsang Yam-kuen. [File photo: imastv.com]

Former Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's bail application was granted by the region's High Court on Monday.

Tsang was sentenced to 20 months in prison on Feb. 22, 2017 for misconduct while in office and was sent to prison immediately.

Tsang was granted bail pending an appeal against his conviction and was released on a cash bail of 100,000 HK dollars (about 12,870 U.S. dollars).

Tsang was found guilty of a charge of misconduct for failing to declare a conflict of interest when he approved applications for radio broadcasting license by a broadcasting company Wave Media.

The former chief executive had faced two charges of misconduct and one charge of bribery. The nine jurors entered a majority verdict of one charge of misconduct. Tsang was cleared of another charge of misconduct.

The jury could not reach a decision on whether Tsang was guilty of accepting advantage. The judge has tentatively scheduled the proceeding to September.