A verdict in the trial of four Rio Tinto employees on bribery charges is expected Monday. From Business Week:
Rio has been advised of the verdict date, the London-based company said in an e-mailed statement today. Australian consular officials will be present and will make a statement after the judgment, the Australian foreign ministry said in a separate statement.
The trial of Hu and his Chinese colleagues, Liu Caikui, Wang Yong and Ge Minqiang for alleged bribery and commercial secret-infringement, has frayed relations between Australia and China. The verdict will come less than a week after the trial concluded yesterday.
“This means they want to wrap this up very quickly,” Johnny Zhang, a partner at Liu & Wang in Shenzhen, said today. “They will try to avoid generating any new lines of criticism.”
