Trial Of Ex-Chongqing Party Chief

Trial Of Ex-Chongqing Party Chief

Bo Xilai mounts feisty defence

IN COURT: Bo Xilai faces various charges, including bribery

BEFORE he fell from grace, ex-Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai was easily the most flamboyant figure in mainland Chinese politics

   Bo struck to form when he appeared in a Jinan court yesterday to answer charges of corruption and abuse of power.

   Not only he refute a bribery charge - one of three offences he is accused of - Bo also mounted a feisty defence, using strong and colourful language.

   For instance, he lambasted the testimony of key witness Tang Xiaolin as "the ugly performance of a person selling his soul". Bo also dismissed as "comical and laughable" a written testimony that the prosecutors obtained from his wife Gu Kailai.

   But some analysts suggest that Bo's dramatic turn in court could be a choreographed move.

   Wuhan-based legal professor Qin Qianhong said that Bo likely agreed to this in exchange for a lighter sentence and for his son to be left alone.

   "They may have made a pact to make the public believe that the trial is not stage-managed and that China's rule of law is being upheld," said Prof Qin of Wuhan University's law school.

   He also believes that the prosecution implicated Bo's son Guagua for the same aim of debunking suspicious of a staged trial.

   Prof Qin thinks it is unlikely the Chinese Communist Party would go after the younger Bo, who is studying in the US and has so far been left out of the case.

   "They may deem it more useful to keep Bo's son as a bargaining chip to rein in the Bo family and his supporters from stirring up more trouble in the future," added Prof Qin.

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Bo Xilai calls wife 'insane' after video testimony

FALLEN Chinese politician Bo Xilai described his wife as "insane" yesterday after his corruption trial heard video testimony from her implicating him in bribery.

   Gu Kailai, once a high-flying lawyer but convicted last year of murdering Mr Neil Heywood, the British businessman whose death sparked the corruption scandal that brought Bo down, looked nervous in the pre-recorded video.

   She described telling her husband of a series of bribes, but Bo told the court she was mentally unstable and had compared herself to a historical Chinese assassin, Jing Ke, telling him she felt "heroic" when killing Mr Heywood. - AFP.

State media calls Bo a liar, 'swollen with arrogance'

JINAN - China's state media called ousted politician's Bo Xilai arrogant and a liar for his robust defence at his trial, the country's highest-profile court case since the Gang of Four was dethroned in the 1970s and put in the dock.

   Bo said on the opening day of his trial on 22 August 2013 that he had been framed in bribery charges against him, and used strong language to dismiss the testimonies of several key witnesses.

   The Guangming Daily, run by the Communist Party, described Bo as "swollen with arrogance", and labelled him "scheming, domineering and duplicitous".

   "Previously, Bo Xilai would use lies to carve out his own greedy dreams and, today in court, he still denies the guilt that he has pleaded," the newspaper said. "He's still carrying his lies."

   Party mouthpiece the People's Daily, in a commentary on its website, slammed Bo's feisty defence as little more than "futile quibbling".

   "The evidence is irrefutable," the newspaper wrote. "Of course Bo Xilai has the right to defend himself... but if he lacks sincerity, then his excuses will be ridiculed."

REUTERS

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Trial of fallen Chinese politician

Bo takes responsibility for missing public funds

Fallen Chinese politician Bo Xilai admitted "some responsibility" for embezzled public funds and for making mistakes in connection with his wife's murder of a British businessman. They were his confessions in a dramatic trial.

   Bo denies embezzling 5 million yuan intended for a local government construction project, but said he "should take some responsibility" for the money ending up in his wife Gu Kailai's bank account and for failing to investigate.

   "I feel ashamed. I was too careless, because these are state funds," he said, according to transcripts made available.

   The courtroom scenes come after a lurid scandal triggered by the death of British businessman Neil Heywood - for which Bo's wife was convicted of murder - that rocked the Communist Party.

   Bo also admitted making mistakes relating to the investigation into Mr Heywood's killing, although he denied charges of abuse of power.

   A picture shows him staring at Mr Wang Lijun, his police chief and right-hand man in Chongqing, the megacity he headed, as Mr Wang testified in court against him.

   Bo admitted to slapping Mr Wang and sacking him as police chief after Mr Wang told him that his wife was responsible for Mr Heywood's murder.

   Days later, Mr Wang fled to a US consulate to seek asylum, blowing the scandal wide open.

   Bo said his errors had "tarnished the reputation of the party and the country".

   "I failed to handle this incident at a critical point in a calm way and I made a serious misjudgment," he said.

   "I feel ashamed for this. I never meant to protect Gu. I didn't mean to force Wang Lijun away." - AFP.

Bo says ex-police chief is 'vile' and 'constantly lied'

FALLEN Chinese politician Bo Xilai launched a scathing attack on his former right-hand man.

   Speaking on the fourth day of his trial, in Shandong province, he said that the Chongqing ex-police chief Wang Lijin "constantly lied" in his testimony and was "a person of very vile quality".

   Bo, the former Chongqing communist party boss, is accused of bribery, embezzlement, abuse of power to block an investigation into his wife's murder of a British businessman and Wang's defection.

   He has admitted to some faults, but denied criminal misconduct.

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Prosecution wants heavy sentence for Bo

THE dramatic trial of fallen Chinese politician Bo Xilai ended 26 August 2013, with prosecutors pushing for a heavy sentence over a murder and corruption scandal that shook the Communist Party.

   Bo's crimes of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power were "extremely serious" and there were no mitigating factors, they said.

   The description is a key factor in Chinese sentencing, where courts must generally find both conditions apply if they are to impose the death penalty.

   Analysts widely believe that despite the drama of the five day trial, which has seen Bo mount a feisty defence, a guilty verdict is a foregone conclusion and a long prison sentence has already been agreed.

   The Intermediate People's Court in Jinan said on its verified account on Sina Weibo, a Chinese equivalent of Twitter, that it would give its verdict at a later date.

   Under Chinese law, the death penalty is available for cases of bribery involving more than 100,000 yuan. The prosecution told the court: "The defendant's crimes are extremely serious.

   "He pleaded not guilty to the charges, and there are no extenuating circumstances suggesting lighter punishment. It must be dealt with severely according to the law."

   Professor Margaret Lewis, from Seton Hall Law School in the US and an expert in Chinese law, pointed out: "In China, like many other countries, most defendants plead guilty, whether or not it is a case with political implications.

   "In part, this is because of a general policy in China of 'leniency for those who confess, severity for those who resist'."

$5.6m is just tip of corruption iceberg

Wife of China's politician Bo Xilai claims he took $103,000 bribe

Bo Xilai on trial in Jinan, east China's Shandong province. A villa in southern France, given to Bo from Xu Ming, chairman of private conglomerate Shide Group.

THE family's safes held more cash than an average Chinese might see in a lifetime.

   Their French villa was held through shell companies designed to avoid taxes and publicity. The son gallivanted around the world at huge expense.

   The sensational corruption trial of Bo Xilai exposed the lavish lifestyle of one of China's most powerful politicians and it has gripped the Communist-run country where there is growing public discontent with inequality, reported AFP.

   The bribery and embezzlement charges against Bo, who was, until last year, the head of the megacity of Chongqing and one of China's top 25 leaders, amount to 26.8 million yuan.

   And that amount is from only a few of his business dealings in the early part of the 64-year-old's career.

   Bo defended himself against allegations from his wife Gu Kailai that she had once seen US$80,000 in bribe money.

   "In the shared safe, there were hundreds of thousands of yuan, so how could she know the money she took out was from me?" he said, according to court accounts.

   Bo was charged with bribery amounting to 21.8 million yuan, embezzlement of 5 million yuan and abuse of power - all of which he vehemently denied during the recent five-day trial.

   He is accused of accepting 20.7 million yuan in bribes from businessman Xu Ming, who testified for the prosecution.

   The court heard that Xu paid for a US$3.2 million villa in the French Riviera resort of Cannes after Gu said she wanted to buy it.

   The six-bedroom mansion with a pool, shaded terrace and colonnaded balconies sits in an exclusive neighbourhood over-looking the Mediterranean.

   It was allegedly funded by Xu through three different companies and managed by others, so that neither Bo nor his family appeared on records as owners of the property, AFP reported.

   Tang Xiaolin, another businessman, allegedly gave Bo 1.1 million yuan, including the US$80,000 allegedly seen by Gu. This was done after he profited from a land deal that the politician helped facilitate.

   Gu grabbed thick wads of yuan and US dollars from safes in the couple's homes during three trips back to China a year from England, where she lived with their only son, Bo Guagua.

   Both bribery accusations stemmed from Bo's years overseeing Dalian city and its north-eastern province Liaoning in the 1990s and early 2000s.

   He became national commerce minister in 2004 and Chongqing's leader in 2007.

   Bo's son attended top-notch schools and universities with hefty tuition fees, including Harrow in Britain, Oxford, Harvard and, from this autumn, Columbia law school in New York, AFP reported.

Overseas trips

   Xu paid for his son, Guagua, to travel to Germany for the 2006 World Cup, as well as Italy, Latin America and Africa, and for toys such as an 80,000 yuan Segway scooter.

   Guagua charged US$50,000 to his credit card, paid off by Xu, for a month's worth of exotic meat from Africa.

   In 2011, he treated 40 Harvard classmates to an expenses-paid trip to China.

   Yet, some Chinese would be surprised if a politician of Bo's stature had not obtained even more wealth, said Steve Tsang, a China politics expert at the University of Nottingham in Britain.

   He said: "I think for a lot of people, the question would be, could this be it? Surely someone in Bo's position could and would have enjoyed much more than what was revealed in court."

   Many Chinese have come to expect ill-gotten riches of their leaders, and Bo's supporters may be willing to overlook his actions, David Goodman, of the University of Sydney, told AFP.

   "Given that they're all at it, why shouldn't you support people you think have views that you think are acceptable?" he said.

   "They don't make a complicated calculus about, well he's corrupt, but he's for us - but that's what it comes down to."

   Official corruption is rampant in China, as the leadership has acknowledged this year 2013 while vowing to crack down on it.

   Multiple examples of excess have been revealed over recent months, even among low-level civil servants.

   But far greater wealth at the highest levels was exposed by Western media in 2012 - and proved so sensitive that the outlets' websites have since remained blocked inside China.

   Meanwhile, Wang Lijun, the former Chongqing police chef who blew the whistle on Bo, is believed to be suffering from a mysterious paralysing illness while in jail, reported Boxun, an overseas Chinese website.

   Wang, 53, is serving a 15-year prison sentence for graft and his attempted defection to the US consulate last February.

   He is believed to be paralysed from the waist down after suffering a mysterious illness which doctors could not diagnose, said Boxun.

   He is in such a weak condition that he attended Bo's trial as a key witness in a wheelchair.

Bo Xilai writes defiant prison letter: Report

FALLEN Chinese politician Bo Xilai has written a defiant letter from prison, vowing to clear his name just days ahead of a court verdict following a high-profile corruption trial, Hong Kong media reported yesterday.

   Bo - almost certain to be guilty on Sunday - said in the letter to family members that his name will "one day" be cleared, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

   He indicated that he expects to receive a jail term, writing that he will "wait quietly in the prison".

   "My father was jailed many times. I will follow his footsteps," the SCMP cited Bo as writing. - AFP.

Bo Xilai sentenced to life in prison for corruption

A COURT in China sentenced Bo Xilai to life in prison for corruption yesterday, burying the career of a politician once seen as a rising star, and lowering the curtain on a scandal that exposed a murder and illicit enrichment among the country's elite.

   The former Politburo member and Chongqing city party leader was convicted of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power - in case that was set in motion by his wife's poisoning of a British business associate in late 2011.

   The Jinan Intermediate People's Court also deprived Bo of political rights for life and confiscated all his personal assets. - AP.

Court upholds life term for Bo Xilai

A Chinese court yesterday rejected fallen politican Bo Xilai's appeal against his corruption conviction and confirmed his life sentence

   Bo had presented 11 grounds for appeal, it said, including that his confessions in custody were "produced under pressure from officials handling the case, and as illegal evidence should be disregarded", AFP reported.

   Until last year, Bo had headed the southwestern megacity of Chongqing and was one of the highest-ranking politicians in the ruling Chinese Communist party, which tightly controls China's courts.

   State broadcaster CCTV showed Bo handcuffed in the court, wearing a black jacket and smiling as he was flanked by two towering policemen in white gloves.

   At the end of the hearing, which lasted less than an hour, they marched the 64-year-old out of the courtroom, each gripping an arm and a shoulder.