A former Chinese lawmaker stood trial on Monday in connection
with the murder of his mistress earlier this month and for taking
bribes.
Duan Yihe, former chairman of the Standing Committee of the
Jinan Municipal People's Congress, is alleged to have hired his
nephew-in-law, a Jinan policeman, to plant the car bomb that killed
his mistress Liu Haiping on July 9.
Duan is also charged with taking bribes and asking for money
totaling 1.69 million yuan (US$223,515). Moreover, he was not able
to explain the source of another 1.3 million yuan (US$171,934) of
his assets, which was beyond his reasonable income level.
Duan's nephew-in-law Chen Zhi, an officer with the Jinan
Municipal Public Security Bureau, and Chen Changbing, boss of a
local auto repair plant, were charged with jointly planting the
bomb in the car of the victim.
The three defendants pleaded guilty to all charges.
Zibo Intermediate People's Court of Shandong Province started
the trial in the morning and will choose another day to announce
the sentence.
Duan, 61, who was expelled from the Communist Party of China and
removed from Party posts after the case was exposed last month,
began an intimate relationship with Liu, 30 years his younger, in
1993 when she worked at a local hotel, he admitted to the
police.
Duan had been trying to split up with Liu since 1999 due to what
he termed as "conflicts" in their relationship, but Liu
refused.
Duan told police he had just wanted to arrange a traffic
accident with the help of Chen Zhi, so that Liu would "lose her
ability to think.”
On July 9, Chen planted explosives in Liu's car and set off the
blast by remote control when Liu was driving. Two passersby were
injured in the explosion.
(Xinhua News Agency August 7, 2007)