Former official denies bribery charges at trial

A retired airline executive and former government official denied charges that he traded favors for 5.04 million yuan ($810,548) in bribes during his trial Thursday in Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court.

Chen Haiju, 64, a former deputy general manager at China Eastern Airlines, was charged last year with accepting bribes. The prosecution accused Chen of abusing his power from 2001 to 2013 by helping others gain illegal profits.

Chen served as the director of the Air Traffic Management Bureau of the Civil Aviation Administration of China from 1999 to November 2003. Afterward, he held a management position at China Eastern Airlines until May 2011.

In court Thursday, Chen argued that he was not in a proper state of mind when he confessed last year to corruption charges. "What I said before was not exactly what happened," he said.

Chen had a heart attack about two weeks after disciplinary officials took him from his home on June 8, 2013. He was arrested as soon as he was released from the hospital.

Chen repeatedly stated in court that parts of his confession were untrue due to his physical state at the time. When the prosecution asked whether his confession was forced, Chen said he had not been tortured. The prosecution accused Chen of accepting 2.36 million yuan from a man surnamed Liu in exchange for helping Liu's company win a contract for an electricity power project at a local air control center, according to witnesses' testimony.

Chen's attorney argued that his client was unaware at the time that Liu was connected to the company that won the contract because the project had been outsourced several times.

On Wednesday, the first day of the trial, Chen testified in his own defense about why he accepted more than 2.6 million yuan from Liu. Chen said he won A$ 560,000 ($523,712) while gambling at casinos during a trip to Australia, the Jiefang Daily reported Thursday. He said he deposited money in Liu's bank account in Hong Kong. In 2004, he asked Liu to transfer the money back to him because he wanted to buy an apartment.

The prosecution pointed out that witness testimony showed Chen also helped a man surnamed Ma win a waste disposal contract. In return, Chen received gifts, such as wine and cigarettes. Chen dismissed the accusation, saying that he was never in charge of any such project and did not influence anyone who oversaw it.

The trial continues Friday.