A Food and Environmental Hygiene Department senior hawker control officer has denied one count of engaging in corrupt conduct with respect to voting at an election. He appeared at the Tuen Mun Magistrates Court on Monday morning.

tuen mun court
Tuen Mun Law Courts Building. Photo: Stand News.

Leung Chung-sau, 59, was charged by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) last month with committing a voting offence under section 16 of the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance. The prosecution will call 14 witnesses in total, RTHK reported.

According to the charges, the defendant was registered as a voter for Tai Tong at the elections last January. However, ICAC found that although Leung had submitted the Tai Tong flat as his principal residential address in 2003, he had in fact not lived at the flat since 2006 and was therefore not eligible to vote at the 2015 Rural Representative Election for Tai Tong in Yuen Long.

Leung has pleaded not guilty. The case has been adjourned to March 9, and in the meantime the defendant will remain on bail.

Karen is a journalist and writer covering politics and legal affairs in Hong Kong for HKFP. She has also written features on human rights, public space, regional legal developments, social and grassroots activism, and arts & culture. She is a BA and LLB graduate from the University of Hong Kong.