HONG KONG: A veteran pro-democracy lawmaker was charged Thursday by Hong Kong's corruption bureau over a payment from one of the city's best-known anti-China media tycoons, in a case he described as a political move.
Leung Kwok-hung -- known locally as "Long Hair" -- is a prominent activist from the League of Social Democrats. He was arrested and charged with one count of misconduct in public office by the city's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).
He is accused of receiving HK$250,000 ($32,000) "in relation to his public office" from the founder of Apple Daily newspaper Jimmy Lai. The paper is highly critical of Beijing.
Leung told AFP his arrest had "political meaning" just months before the city holds parliamentary elections.
It comes as fears grow in Hong Kong that China is tightening its grip on the semi-autonomous city and that the local government is increasingly influenced by Beijing.
Those concerns have been exacerbated following the recent revelations by Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee about his eight-month detention in China.
Lam is one of five city booksellers known for selling gossipy titles about Beijing politicians who have disappeared and later resurfaced in China. He claimed he was kept in a cell, blindfolded and interrogated.
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