The trial of the four Shanghai-based employees of the Australian mining giant Rio Tinto continued on Tuesday, March 23, after Australian executive Stern Hu reportedly admitted to taking bribes on the first day of the trial yesterday.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, the charges against the employees, who have been detained since July 5, 2009, relate to receiving bribes and stealing commercial secrets.
According to international press reports, Hu and the three Chinese nationals, Liu Caikui, Ge Minqiang and Wang Yong, pleaded guilty at Shanghai Number One Intermediate Court but disputed the amounts they are alleged to have accepted.
The Australian consul-general in Shanghai, Tom Connor, was quoted as saying that Mr. Hu confirmed the truth of some of the bribe amounts.
The second day of the trial on Tuesday is expected to continue with charges regarding the theft of commercial secrets. It is reported that the employees face 20 years imprisonment on the bribery charges alone.
Commenting on the case at a conference in Beijing on March 22, Rio Tinto CEO Tom Albanese said that the issue is of great concern to his company. "I can only say we respectfully await the outcome of the Chinese legal process," he indicated.