Ao Man-long appeared calm on his first day in court as proceedings began under unprecedented security arrangements.
More than 30 police officers conducted searches around the Court of Final Appeal building, which had been cordoned off before the court opened.
About 100 members of the public and journalists entering court had to undergo two levels of security checks stricter than those used at airports before they were allowed in. The whole process took an hour.
Some journalists who had not registered earlier were turned away, while portable electronic devices such as MP3 players and recorders had to be left at checkpoints.
Peter Tsoi, a Macau resident who joined the queue, said he planned to spend all day at court.
'The way he corrupted was terrible. The whole population in Macau would have been in complete darkness on high-level graft if the case had not been exposed.'
