Will Stern Hu Get Fair Trial? by Barbora Misakova

Rio Tinto Group is British-Australian mining and resources group which was founded in 1973. Since then, the company has become one of the world leaders in the production of many commodities such as aluminium, iron ore, copper, uranium, coal or diamonds. It has operations on six continents, but mainly in Australia and Canada. In 2009 four Rio Tinto employees, including one Australian citizen, were arrested in Shanghai. They were accused of corruption and espionage. Australian citizen Stern Hu was detained on criminal charges such as stealing Chinese state secrets for foreign countries and taking bribes. After almost a year from their arrest, the trial has begun. An Australia! n executive was pleaded guilty Monday to taking bribes. According to attorney Tao Wuping, Stern Hu was charged with accepting six million Yuan in bribes, what represents 880,000 dollars. The other defendants Wang Yong and Ge Minqiang were charged with accepting 70 million and 6 million Yuan in bribes. Although Stern Hu and Liu Caikui had pleaded guilty, they were contesting the bribe amounts. The trial should continue today with more bribery hearings. First sessions on the trade secrets charges should follow as well. But these charges are going to be heard in separate close-door sessions. No foreign journalist were allowed in, only a handful of reporters from state-run domestic media. Canberra has called for transparency in the trial, but it is hard to say, if it will be reached. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rud said the world will be watching the case very closely. Actually, there is nothing more they can do…

related story (sgx16830): http://www.france24.com/en/20100322-rio-tinto-employess-brib...

by Barbora Misakova for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)

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