[JURIST] Hong Kong’s former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of misconduct and accepting advantages following corrupt dealings during his term. Before leaving office in 2012, Tsang reportedly negotiated [SCMP report] with a major shareholder of Digital Broadcasting Corporation (DBC) [official website, in Chinese] to approve license applications. In exchange, Tsang was granted free remodeling of his rental penthouse in Shenzhen. Tsang also recommended his interior designer for an honor without disclosing the nature of their relationship. At trial, Tsang pleaded not guilty [Reuters report] to all three corruption charges, each of which had a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment. This matter has made Tsang the highest ranking official to face a criminal trial in Hong Kong’s history.

Hong Kong has recently been faced with political conflict and civil unrest. In November a Hong Kong Court ruled against [JURIST report] two elected, pro-independence politicians, preventing them from taking local office. In October three officials were barred as a result of a political protest [NYT report] launched during their inaugural oaths. The November decision deemed the oaths unfulfilled when two of the legislators pledged their allegiance to the “Hong Kong Nation” as opposed to the People’s Republic of China. The politicians were found to have willfully omitted their duty to take the oath when requested to do so and has their positions automatically invalidated as a result. Protests [AP report] took place in Hong Kong Sunday with an estimated 5,000 people marching in support of pro-democracy politicians.