Stern Hu's Shanghai trial looms
Stern Hu and his three Rio Tinto colleagues have been listed for trail this coming Monday in Shanghai.
THE Shanghai lawyer for one of the accused Rio Tinto employees says he is ready to fight for the defence of his client in court on Monday, despite widespread scepticism about the integrity of China's judicial systems.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd cautioned the Chinese government yesterday, while his deputy, Julia Gillard, said Canberra was ''very disappointed'' at the lack of transparency so far.
The Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate Court has said the trial, listed for three days beginning on Monday, will be closed for proceedings relating to charges of obtaining commercial secrets.
''The world will be watching how this particular court case is conducted,'' Mr Rudd told reporters.
Ms Gillard said: ''We are obviously very disappointed that that court will not be conducted in an open fashion and representations are being made to the Chinese government about that matter.''
But China yesterday warned against politicising the trial of four Rio Tinto employees, including Australian Stern Hu, in a case that has has strained relations between the two countries. ''It will not and should not be politicised,'' foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.
The court is technically open for proceedings relating to the other charge, receiving bribes, but judge Liu Xin, who has been assigned to the case, was not answering the phone yesterday to confirm details.
The maximum sentence for the bribery charge is five years' jail, while extreme commercial secrets cases can result in up to seven years.
Australian Greens leader Bob Brown said the trial would be a formality. ''The sentence for Stern Hu will have been predetermined in Beijing,'' he said.
While there is no rule of law in China, the country is home to a growing band of well-trained, independently minded lawyers who sometimes risk their careers and even their freedom for the sake of their legal professional obligations.
Zhang Peihong, the respected lawyer for Stern Hu's colleague Wang Yong, reacted indignantly to claims that it is not possible for lawyers to independently and stridently represent their clients in ''sensitive'' cases in China, and particularly in tightly controlled Shanghai.
''Of course I am ready, otherwise I would be disqualified from doing my job,'' he said. ''I take responsibility for my own personal and professional ethics.''
Mr Zhang said he would meet his client, Wang, today. He said he had seen evidence against his client but would not say whether his client would plead guilty or not.
If he was not always available to talk to the media, he said, it was out of professional considerations for his client. ''If I do not accept media interviews it's not because of pressure from government, but for my own considerations,'' he said. ''I do whatever I want to do within the permission of law.''
Some other lawyers for the Rio Tinto employees have not been as forthcoming with foreign media. Duan Qihua, a Shanghai corporate lawyer hired for Hu, has never been in his Shanghai office when The Age has called and has never returned phone calls.
With AFP
