Former Civic Party executive jailed for six months for failing to file election paperwork
A former Civic Party executive member has been jailed for six months for failing to submit an election declaration form.
Jackal Chan, 41, a software engineer, and 55-year-old retiree Ng Chi-hung were both candidates in the 2019 District Council election, in which both lost. They were charged with failing to submit election declaration forms by the Dec. 29, 2019 deadline, and both pleaded guilty.
Chan’s election expenses were around HK$13,000 (US$1,674) and Ng’s were around HK$60,000, according to the case details.
Magistrate Joseph To said at the start of the hearing that he would consider a long imprisonment. Chan’s lawyer said the failure to submit the declaration was due to a miscommunication with his election agent.
His lawyer also said that another candidate, Johnny Ma, was only fined HK$5,000 for failing to submit an election declaration in a separate case, even though Ma said it was an act of civil disobedience. Magistrate To said he would not consider that case.
In mitigation, the lawyer said Chan relied on his election agent to submit the election declaration form, but the agent waited for his instructions and failed to act. The lawyer described Chan’s troubled private life, saying he is the oldest son in his family with two retired parents, and is currently going through a divorce; he and his wife have two young sons.
Chan is living with a girlfriend, who suffers from depression, and her two-year-old daughter, the lawyer said. He has to support his current family and his ex-wife financially, and his bank has warned about taking back his flat, the lawyer said. He said Chan was educated at the tertiary level and earns HK$29,000 a month.
Chan was an independent candidate who withdrew from the race because of suspicions that his ex-wife was torturing his sons, the lawyer said. He was fired from his job after the election and is in a poor financial situation.
The lawyer submitted several mitigation letters supporting Chan, from a priest and friends, and asked for a lenient sentence, saying that Chan has already been punished by being unable to see his sons while in detention, and has decided to quit politics.
Magistrate To said Chan failed to act despite multiple email reminders, and it was his own responsibility.
To said he would not reduce the sentence for humanitarian reasons. Despite five past cases submitted by the defense, in which punishments ranged from fines to 100 hours of community service for defendants who pleaded guilty, the court must give a deterring sentence, he said.
The starting point of the sentence was nine months and it was reduced to six months due to the guilty plea. The sentence was similar to recent cases in which the defendants were jailed for election corruption.
Meanwhile, Ng did not have a lawyer in court. Ng has had mental issues since 2009, according to a report on his background cited by To. To ordered a report on his mental status, and Ng was remanded until July 2 for sentencing.
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