Zhu Mingguo breaks down in court as he issues apology over corruption
In a tearful court apology, the former top graft-buster of Guangdong province has admitted to taking more than 140 million yuan (HK$166 million) in bribes.
“I’ve made a mistake. It’s a grave mistake. I’ve also committed crime, which is serious,” Zhu Mingguo, his voice choked with sobs, told the Liuzhou Intermediate People’s Court in Guangxi province yesterday.
Zhu, 59, pled guilty to abusing his position to reap financial gain, being unable to account for some of his assets, and violating the family-planning policy.
Reports said Zhu had raised a son and a daughter with his ex-wife. It is unclear how many children he had with his current wife.
“Referring to the trial by judicial system and the legal punishment given to me, I’ve no complaint at all,” he says in a video published by China News Service. “I earnestly and sincerely plead guilty and show my repentance, with no intention to appeal.”
Zhu has not appeared in public since his detention in 2014. Apart from the 141 million yuan in bribes, he could not account for some 90 million yuan in assets.
In the video, Zhu takes off his glasses, steps back and bows before the camera, saying that he wants to express his deep apology to the Communist Party, the state and his compatriots.
Zhu was regarded as a protégé of Wang Yang, the former party boss of Guangdong. They worked together in Chongqing between 2002 and 2006 and in Guangdong from 2007 to 2013.
Wang is a vice-premier and a member of the party’s decision-making Politburo.
With Wang’s blessing, Zhu managed to peacefully settle massive anti-corruption protests in Wukan township in 2011, which won him political credit.
Zhu was deputy party secretary and the chief of the political and legal committee in Guangdong before he was promoted to chairman of the provincial political advisory body in early 2013.
The trial ended yesterday and a verdict has yet to be delivered.
