Xu Xiaogang, previously deputy director of Jiangxi Provincial Bureau of Public Security, on Wednesday stood an open-door trial for charges of taking bribes and illegally possessing firearms.

The trial was done by the Intermediate People's Court of Quzhou, a city in east China's Zhejiang Province, which acted on orders given by the Supreme People's Court, sources from the lower court said.

During the court hearing, public prosecutors alleged that during his tenure as the powerful deputy police chief of Jiangxi from October 1994 and May 2005, Xu repeatedly took bribes and sought benefits on behalf of bribers.

And the illegal property Xu took included 4.05 million yuan (US$506,050), 231,500 Hongkong dollars, US$70,000 and 10,000 euros in cash.

The court was also told that Xu successively kept six guns of civilian use in his office, at his home or the homes of his friends from 1989 to July 2006. All the six guns have been seized.

Xu, who also served as deputy head of Jiangxi Provincial Press and Publication Bureau until last May, was implicated because of exposure of a case concerning the biggest organized crime clique in Jiangxi. Xiong Xinxing, the kingpin of the organized crime clique, recklessly gave bribes to civil servants, including Xu, in order to seek protection.

Xu was formally arrested on May 11, 2006.

The result of Wednesday's trial will be announced later.

(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2007)