article_snippet.sent: Zhou Yongkang, 72, was also charged with abuse of power and leaking state secrets, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the highest prosecution authority in China, said.
article_snippet.sent: As a member of the ruling Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee -- China's top decision-making body -- former top official Zhou Yongkang was one of nine men who effectively ruled the country of more than 1.3 billion people.
article_snippet.sent: former top official Zhou Yongkang retired in 2012.
article_snippet.sent: At the height of former top official Zhou Yongkang power, former top official Zhou Yongkang controlled police forces, spy agencies, court systems as well as prosecution offices across China -- and wasn't shy in deploying former top official Zhou Yongkang vast assets to crush dissent and unrest in the name of "preserving social stability.
article_snippet.sent: Now, prosecutors have accused former top official Zhou Yongkang of "taking advantage of former top official Zhou Yongkang posts to seek benefits for others and illegally accepting huge amounts of money" during former top official Zhou Yongkang long political career.
article_snippet.sent: former top official Zhou Yongkang alleged actions have caused heavy losses to public assets and greatly harmed national interests, His alleged actions added.
article_snippet.sent: former top official Zhou Yongkang was notified of former top official Zhou Yongkang legal rights during the investigation and former top official Zhou Yongkang lawyer's views were heard, according to a statement by the prosecutors.
article_snippet.sent: former top official Zhou Yongkang case will be tried in Tianjin, a city near the Chinese capital, Beijing.
article_snippet.sent: The president of China's supreme court recently told reporters there would be "open" trials for accused former leaders like former top official Zhou Yongkang.
article_snippet.sent: former top official Zhou Yongkang has not been seen in public since former top official Zhou Yongkang attended an anniversary event at former top official Zhou Yongkang alma mater in October 2013.
article_snippet.sent: former top official Zhou Yongkang was expelled from the Communist Party and arrested last December.
article_snippet.sent: State media have painted an intricate web of officials, cronies and tycoons -- some with alleged mafia connections -- orbiting around former top official Zhou Yongkang before the crumbling of former top official Zhou Yongkang power structure last summer.
article_snippet.sent: former top official Zhou Yongkang and former top official Zhou Yongkang family members were said to have accumulated enormous wealth, in a blatant exchange between money and power.
article_snippet.sent: former top official Zhou Yongkang was also found to have affairs with multiple women and allegedly traded power for sex, state-run Xinhua news agency reported last year.
article_snippet.sent: Analysts have viewed former top official Zhou Yongkang shocking downfall as a watershed moment in the secretive world of Chinese politics, now ruled by President Xi Jinping.
article_snippet.sent: former top official Zhou Yongkang is by far the biggest tiger caught in President Xi Jinping's dragnet to date.
highlights_snippet.sent: Prosecutors formally charged former top official Zhou Yongkang .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: former top official Zhou Yongkang charged with accepting bribes, abuse of power and leaking state secrets .
  