Two Chinese Rio TINTO brstoriesemployees jailed for stealing trade secrets and pocketing millions in bribes have decided to appeal, their lawyers said Saturday. Wang Yong and Liu Caikui will appeal against their jail terms of 14 and seven years respectively, their lawyers told AFP. The other Chinese employee Ge Minqiang had not yet decided if he would challenge his sentence of eight years, his lawyer told AFP.
The lawyer representing Australian citizen Stern Hu, who was jailed for 10 years, declined to comment when contacted by AFP. Liu lodged his appeal on Friday while Wang will meet with his lawyer Monday morning to discuss his decision to appeal, the lawyers said. Hu and the three Chinese staff were convicted of taking more than 13 million dollars in kickbacks from Chinese steel firms during tense 2009 iron ore talks, which the court said they had helped ruin, and of stealing trade secrets.
The sentences handed down Monday in Shanghai provoked protests from Australia, which said the prison term for Hu was "very tough" and "harsh". Hu, head of Rio Tinto's Shanghai office, was sentenced to seven years for bribery and five more on the industrial espionage charge - but the court reduced the combined sentence to 10 years.
Chinese legal authorities also plan to take action against officials from Chinese steel companies who allegedly gave bribes to the four Rio executives, the Economic Observer reported Saturday. Beijing Shougang Corp, Guofeng Iron and Steel, Laiwu Steel Group, Rizhao Steel Group, Tianjin Rongcheng Steel Group and Sinochem International were among the companies involved in the case, the newspaper said, citing one of the lawyers. Rizhao Steel chairman Du Shuanghua had been told by authorities to stay within Shandong province, it added.
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