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Former police chief admits trying to defect to the US
Source: Agencies |
September 19, 2012, Wednesday
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THE former police chief of Chongqing City admitted attempting to defect to the United States and did not contest charges of bribery and illegal surveillance at his trial yesterday.
Wang Lijun sought to conceal the murder of a British businessman by the wife of former Chongqing Party chief Bo Xilai, according to an official account of the trial.
A summary of the trial by a court spokesman fleshed out Wang's role in the murder last year, saying that Bo's wife, Bogu Kailai, conferred with him before and after the crime. Bogu confessed to the murder of her business partner Neil Heywood and received a suspended death sentence at a trial last month.
But prosecutors acknowledged that Wang's cooperation was central to cracking the murder case and exposing leads to major crimes committed by unnamed others, indicating that he will likely get a lenient sentence when the verdict is announced in about 10 days.
"The accused, Wang Lijun, voluntarily gave himself up after committing the crime of defection, and then gave a truthful account of the main crimes involved in his defection," court spokesman Yang Yuquan said, referring to Wang's dramatic flight to the US consulate in Chengdu in February.
Yang said that Wang "exposed leads concerning major criminal offences by others, and played an important role in investigating and dealing with the cases concerned."
Yang added: "According to law, his punishment may be reduced."
The charges against Wang carry sentences ranging from a lengthy jail term to the death penalty.
As police chief of Chongqing, Wang was known as the strong arm of the law, energetically carrying out Bo's crackdown on crime and gangs.
But "he conducted technical surveillance on many people many times without getting permission, or by falsifying permission," Yang said. "This gravely jeopardizes socialist law and violated legal rights of Chinese citizens."
Wang, shown on state television looking relaxed during the hearing, was also charged with receiving some 3.05 million yuan (US$484,000) in unspecified "money and assets" in return for securing benefits for unidentified people. Yang did not give details of the gifts or from whom Wang received them.
Wang, 52, lifted the lid on the murder and cover-up of Heywood in February when he went to a US consulate and told envoys there about the murder. Within two months of Wang's 24-hour visit to the consulate, Bo was sacked as Chonqqing's Party chief.
Wang's trial began on Monday in Chengdu with an unannounced closed-door session to hear charges of defection and abuse of power, which involved state secrets, Yang said. It continued behind closed doors yesterday in the Intermediate People's Court of Chengdu.
Prosecutors said Wang "clearly knew that Bogu Kailai was a major suspect in a case of murder, and deliberately concealed that so she would not be prosecuted," Yang said. However, Wang decided to later reopen the investigation.
"The defendant exposed other people's serious crimes and played a crucial role in the investigations of relevant cases, making a major contribution," Yang said.
Wang Lijun sought to conceal the murder of a British businessman by the wife of former Chongqing Party chief Bo Xilai, according to an official account of the trial.
A summary of the trial by a court spokesman fleshed out Wang's role in the murder last year, saying that Bo's wife, Bogu Kailai, conferred with him before and after the crime. Bogu confessed to the murder of her business partner Neil Heywood and received a suspended death sentence at a trial last month.
But prosecutors acknowledged that Wang's cooperation was central to cracking the murder case and exposing leads to major crimes committed by unnamed others, indicating that he will likely get a lenient sentence when the verdict is announced in about 10 days.
"The accused, Wang Lijun, voluntarily gave himself up after committing the crime of defection, and then gave a truthful account of the main crimes involved in his defection," court spokesman Yang Yuquan said, referring to Wang's dramatic flight to the US consulate in Chengdu in February.
Yang said that Wang "exposed leads concerning major criminal offences by others, and played an important role in investigating and dealing with the cases concerned."
Yang added: "According to law, his punishment may be reduced."
The charges against Wang carry sentences ranging from a lengthy jail term to the death penalty.
As police chief of Chongqing, Wang was known as the strong arm of the law, energetically carrying out Bo's crackdown on crime and gangs.
But "he conducted technical surveillance on many people many times without getting permission, or by falsifying permission," Yang said. "This gravely jeopardizes socialist law and violated legal rights of Chinese citizens."
Wang, shown on state television looking relaxed during the hearing, was also charged with receiving some 3.05 million yuan (US$484,000) in unspecified "money and assets" in return for securing benefits for unidentified people. Yang did not give details of the gifts or from whom Wang received them.
Wang, 52, lifted the lid on the murder and cover-up of Heywood in February when he went to a US consulate and told envoys there about the murder. Within two months of Wang's 24-hour visit to the consulate, Bo was sacked as Chonqqing's Party chief.
Wang's trial began on Monday in Chengdu with an unannounced closed-door session to hear charges of defection and abuse of power, which involved state secrets, Yang said. It continued behind closed doors yesterday in the Intermediate People's Court of Chengdu.
Prosecutors said Wang "clearly knew that Bogu Kailai was a major suspect in a case of murder, and deliberately concealed that so she would not be prosecuted," Yang said. However, Wang decided to later reopen the investigation.
"The defendant exposed other people's serious crimes and played a crucial role in the investigations of relevant cases, making a major contribution," Yang said.
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