An ex-aide of former Chinese president Hu Jintao has been charged with accepting bribes and illegally obtaining state secrets, prosecutors said on Friday, suggesting he will face jail after a trial. The ruling Communist Party last year accused Ling Jihua - once Hu's chief of staff - of bribery and "trading power for sex", after expelling him the previous year.
Ling's son died in a notorious Ferrari crash in Beijing which disrupted a once-in-a-decade party leadership change in 2012. The accusations against Ling are "extremely serious", the country's senior prosecutor said on its website, suggesting a lengthy sentence is likely. He "abused his power" as director of the General Office of the Communist Party's Central Committee, where he worked under Hu, it cited prosecutors in the northern port city of Tianjin as saying.
While in several party leadership posts he "illegally received large amounts of property and obtained state secrets," it added. His prosecution is likely to be followed by a tightly choreographed trial, with a guilty verdict and jail term almost guaranteed. It comes as part of a high-profile crackdown on graft by current President Xi Jinping that has deposed several senior officials, notably former security chief Zhou Yongkang, who was jailed for life last year.
Critics say that a lack of transparency around the crackdown means it has been an opportunity for Xi to eliminate political enemies. The 2012 car crash involving Ling's son scandalised China despite a mainland media blackout - partly because two young women, one nude and one partially clothed, were also injured in the crash, with one reportedly dying months later.
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