36 defendants face series of allegations at seven courts

A former mining tycoon accused of leading a massive mafia-style criminal group stood trial on Monday on multiple charges, including murder.

Liu Han, former chairman of the Hanlong Group, the biggest private enterprise in Sichuan province, and 35 other alleged gang members faced trial at seven courts in Xianning, Hubei province.

Prosecutors accuse the defendants of murdering nine people, five of them shot dead.

Liu, 49, owned tens of subsidiary companies involved in electricity, energy, finance, mining, real estate and securities. Their assets totaled 40 billion yuan ($6.4 billion).

According to prosecutors from Xianning People's Procuratorate, gang members carried out criminal activities from 1993, mainly in Sichuan province.

The defendants are charged with offences including organizing, leading and taking part in a mafia-style gang, homicide, intentional injury, illegal detention, blackmail, illegally possessing guns and ammunition, collusion in bidding and defrauding banks of loans.

When the alleged gang was busted last year, police confiscated three grenades, 20 guns, 677 bullets, 2,163 shotgun cartridges and more than 100 knives.

The defendants include three former government officials charged with accepting bribes and tolerating gangsters. They are Liu Xuejun, a former political commissar in the city of Deyang's public security bureau; Lyu Bin, former director of the bureau's finance department; and Liu Zhongwei, former deputy chief of Shifang People's Procuratorate.

As the cases are complicated, 21 prosecutors were in attendance, Zhang Xiaowu, spokesman for Xianning Intermediate People's Court, said on Monday.

Zhang said 47 defense lawyers met with the defendants before the hearings opened.

"The suspects' basic legal rights have been guaranteed," he said at a news briefing.

Thirty-three family members of the defendants, 64 media representatives and 427 people from all walks of life attended the hearings, Zhang said.

Liu Han's case attracted public attention following an afternoon shooting spree in January 2009 in which three people were shot dead at an open-air teahouse in Guanghan, Sichuan province.

Two suspects, Yuan Shaolin and Zhang Donghua, were soon captured and they said that Liu Wei, Liu Han's younger brother, hired them to kill the three, who were business rivals. Police said they later found that Liu Han had given Liu Wei millions of yuan to help him escape. Yuan and Zhang are among the 36 defendants standing trial.

In another case, one of Liu Han's companies became involved in a real estate development project in Mianyang, Sichuan, in 1998. After a confrontation with villagers over demolition compensation, Tang Xianbing, a security guard with Liu Han's company, stabbed and killed Xiong Wei, leader of the protesters. Tang later confessed to prosecutors.

"Nothing happened to me after the killing, and that made me bolder and more unscrupulous," Tang said in his confession, according to a CCTV report.

"I would do anything for the company, even murder. I no longer felt any fear."

Known for his philanthropy, Liu Han was elected a political adviser in Sichuan province three consecutive times, and he has more than 20 honorary titles.

His best known charitable act is the building of a rural elementary school complex that withstood the devastating 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

Zhang Qingsong, Liu Han's defense lawyer, said Liu Han has faced great mental pressure since being charged, Beijing Times reported.

Prosecutors and lawyers have differing opinions on some of the charges, and the lawyers will address these in court, he told the newspaper.

The cases will continue to be heard on Tuesday.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

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