ICAC charges Benny Tai, two others over 2016 polls

Occupy movement co-founder Benny Tai has been charged by the ICAC over a strategic voting scheme that he proposed for the Legco polls in 2016.

Five years ago, Tai came up with the “ThunderGo” strategy, which sought to use pre-election poll results to co-ordinate pro-democracy voters for the September 4 general election.

A statement by the anti-graft body on Monday said Tai, 57, was charged alongside Ip Kim-ching and Sek Sau-ching – none of them candidates of the election – for allegedly engaging in illegal conduct by placing six newspaper advertisements for the scheme and incurring election expenses totalling over HK$253,000.

Ip, 55, and Sek, 50, were directors of a company called Eggs Alliance though which the ads were placed, the ICAC said.

The ads in question were placed in the Ming Pao and Apple Daily newspapers in August and September 2016.

The corruption watchdog also noted Tai had promoted the scheme via a radio programme, press conferences and social media.

The trio jointly face four counts of “engaging in illegal conduct at an election by incurring election expense” and will appear in Eastern Court on Friday, with authorities saying prosecution will seek to transfer the case to the District Court.

“Section 23 of the Election (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance states that it is an illegal conduct for a person, other than a candidate or a candidate’s election expense agent, to incur election expenses at or in connection with the election,” the ICAC said.

Tai has been remanded in custody since February after he was charged with violating the national security law over the pro-democracy Legco primaries last year.