Disgraced South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk denied faking data for a key academic paper at the start of a fraud trial yesterday in the scandal over his now-discredited claims of trailblazing progress in the cloning of stem cells.
"I was not involved in the process, I just received results," Hwang told a Seoul court in response to questions about an article published in 2004.
If the accusations of falsified research are true, he said "it means my whole research team conspired to deceive me but I still don't believe this is the case."
"I fully trusted [my colleagues] without doubts, but it was clearly my mistake to approve the results," said Hwang, during testimony where he appeared confident.
Hwang was indicted last month for allegedly accepting 2 billion won (US$2.1 million) in private donations based on the outcome of the falsified research and embezzling about 800 million won in private and government research funds.
He also was accused of buying human eggs for research, a violation of the country's bioethics law.
If convicted, the 52-year-old scientist faces at least three years in prison. He is being tried along with five colleagues who face similar charges.
Before the trial's start at Seoul Central District Court, Hwang's supporters gathered outside and shouted, "We'll protect you until the end!" During Hwang's testimony the supporters, who formed much of the courtroom audience, occasionally applauded in support.
Researcher Kim Sun-jong -- who was indicted for tampering with research data, and whom Hwang has accused of deceiving him with fake results -- said in court that he was "under serious pressure" to show Hwang he had produced cloned stem cells, leading him to fake the evidence.
Kim said Hwang was unaware of his misdeeds.
In their opening remarks yesterday, the prosecutors said that Hwang's deception was "a fraud case unmatched in history for the whole Korean people and the whole world."
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