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Bo Xilai verdict to be announced on Sunday
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A VERDICT in the case of disgraced politician Bo Xilai on charges of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power will be delivered on Sunday.
The Jinan Intermediate People’s Court said yesterday that it would announce its verdict at 10am on September 22.
The former member of the Communist Party’s Political Bureau and Chongqing Party chief vigorously defended himself during last month’s trial in the eastern city of Jinan, acknowledging mistakes in his leadership but admitting no guilt in the charges against him.
Prosecutors accused Bo of netting US$4.3 million through embezzlement facilitated by his wife Bogu Kailai, and through bribes given to his family by a businessman, including a French villa, expenses-paid vacations and fancy delicacies such as abalone.
Bo, 64, also was accused of interfering in the investigation into Bogu, who was convicted of murdering Briton Neil Heywood in a separate trial last year.
During his court testimony, Bo denounced the prosecution’s key witnesses, including his wife and his former police chief and right-hand man Wang Lijun.
Bo said his wife was crazy and that Wang was dishonest, while he portrayed himself as a well-intentioned official too busy to closely scrutinize the people in his inner circle.
Bogu testified that Bo knew about the bribes because she told him about them.
Prosecutors said that Bo’s crimes were “extremely grave” and urged the court to hand down a severe punishment given that Bo refused to admit guilt.
In their summarizing statement, they said the evidence presented in court and during cross-examination fully demonstrated clear facts and that the evidence was sufficient to charge Bo with the crimes.
They said that, although the country’s legal system has a principle of tempering justice with mercy, a heavy sentence in line with the law should be handed down to Bo, as he committed very serious crimes, refused to plead guilty and was not subject to any terms of leniency by law.
Li Guifang and Wang Zhaofeng of the Beijing-based DeHeng Law Offices represented Bo at his trial.
More than 100 people, including Bo’s family and relatives, lawmakers, political advisers, ordinary citizens and journalists were present in court to witness the trial proceedings. The Jinan court’s microblog on Sina Weibo published trial transcripts and it had more than 582,000 followers during the trial which began on August 18 and ended on August 26. Its 160 posts gained tens of thousands of reposts and comments.
In his final statement, Bo told the court: “During the trial, both prosecution and defense sides had opportunities to fully express their opinions. Also, the court released trial transcripts through microblog. All of these have made me more confident of the future of China’s judicial system.”
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