Most of those convicted in the corruption affair surrounding road construction company Janssen de Jong Infra have been on trial again on appeal since yesterday.

"I apologize to the judge, to the prosecutor and to the province of Limburg." Ex-provincial official Jan S. is clearly more talkative this Monday at the start of his appeal hearing against his conviction for taking bribes from construction company Janssen de Jong Infra (JaJo) than during the hearing of his trial in December 2010. As with the other convicts who appealed in this case, there is no resignation. There is apparent remorse, however.

''On the advice of my lawyer at the time, I told a story to the judge that was not based on truth. It didn't feel right. I do want to tell the real story now," he told the counsels of the court in Den Bosch on Monday. For the first time since the corruption scandal came to light in early 2009, the ex-officer acknowledged that he crossed the line. Calling the ten-thousand euro renovations to his house- fully paid for by the road construction company- previously "private services" from "good acquaintances at JaJo," now, after all those years since he was lifted from his bed by the police in early 2009, S. acknowledges that he accepted business gifts "that are actually comparable to a 1,000 euro bottle of wine. Yes, he knew he was over the line professionally, "but I never thought I would be criminally targeted for that."

S. candidly admitted yesterday that the sense of loyalty toward Janssen de Jong became so great because of all those friends' services that the company was indeed at the top of the list when distributing budget surpluses and awarding large jobs. "The scale did point very much in the direction of Janssen de Jong."

The former public servant still faces a year in jail and a claim for damages from the county. Like the nine other convicts, he hopes for a more lenient verdict from the court. The indictments have been changed in details. In this way, the prosecution hopes to at least overturn the four (partial) acquittals in this case.It will not yield many new insights. Several JaJo executives and top officials were heard at the request of the defense, but no indications of their direct involvement were allegedly found. No evidence was also discovered for the existence of a company-wide culture of corruption at JaJo.