Ex-Hong Kong academic and opposition activist Benny Tai gets 10 months’ jail in election expenses case

Former Hong Kong law professor and opposition activist Benny Tai Yiu-ting has been sentenced to 10 months’ jail for illegally incurring election expenses through newspaper advertisements to promote a tactical voting scheme ahead of the 2016 Legislative Council poll.

The judge said Tai’s action influenced fairness of the election and warranted immediate imprisonment, but reduced his sentence from 18 months after considering unreasonable delays in prosecution.

Tai, 57, appeared peaceful when he received his sentence in the District Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty last month to four counts of the charge in connection with the “ThunderGo” strategy that was aimed at maximising the chances of opposition hopefuls in the election.

Judge Anthony Kwok Kai-on noted the defence’s position that Tai had proposed tactical voting only to reflect the support received by the opposition camp, but he said Tai’s action had caused unfairness to both pro-establishment and independent candidates.

“The defendant may have acted based on his views on democracy and justice, but no matter how noble his idea is, he can only strive to achieve them through legal means. He cannot use it as an excuse to break the law,” Kwok said.

He also said Tai, as a veteran legal scholar, had not mentioned whether he had taken any steps to ensure the plan was in line with the law or if he was misled by wrong legal advice. Tai “could not escape censure” and carelessness was not mitigation, he said.

However, he noted that the expenses were announced clearly while Tai had not directly recommended any candidate and had no personal gains from the plan.