Four Rio Tinto employees who stand accused by the government of bribery and industrial espionage have been granted legal representation. While the four will have individual lawyers they will all be tried collectively, and they have all chosen renowned PRC lawyers.
Australian citizen Stern Hu, general manager of the Rio Tinto sales team in Shanghai, is represented by Charles Duan, the managing partner of Shanghai-based Duan & Duan. Three Chinese nationals, Liu Caikui, Ge Minqiang and Wang Yong, have engaged legal representation through Shanghai-based criminal lawyers. Liu, who was the manager of the Rio sales team, will be represented by Tao Wuping from Shenda Partners, who has previously acted for Shanghai property tycoon Zhou Zhengyi in the stock manipulation case in 2003.
Criminal defence lawyer Zhai Jian, who founded Zhai Jian law firm and gained national fame for defending a Beijing resident who killed six police officers last July, will defend Ge, an employee of the company. Zhang Peihong, also from Zhai Jian, will act for Wang, also an employee.
“There is no reason for me to not accept this case. It’s like operating a hospital – you can’t turn away patients,” said Zhai. “[It] has been receiving an overload of media attention, but I am not pressured and will try it as any other litigation case.”
China announced the formal arrest of the Rio employees on 12 August 2009; and their lawyers have filed for permission to see their clients. Chinese law does not require the defendants to have access to their lawyers until after the current stage of investigation.
“At this stage, all lawyers still do not know the detailed facts of the case and [I] am unable to comment further,” Zhai added. Although the four Rio employees were detained weeks ago the allegations against them have now been amended: from stealing state secrets, which is punishable by execution, to bribery and theft of commercial secrets.
The accused face up to seven years imprisonment if found guilty. The matter has affected tensions somewhat between China and Australia, as the “Rio Four” case has been mentioned when Australian firms report their major transaction and investments dealings from China.
The recent arrests have also kept China-based Western companies on their toes. Many companies are seeking legal advice on how to prevent similar accusations happening to their employees. The case also questions the boundaries of acceptable commercial behaviour in China and the cost of overstepping the line.