JINAN, China, Sept 22: A Chinese court sentenced ousted senior politician Bo Xilai to life in jail today after finding him
guilty of corruption and abuse of power, a tough term that gives him little chance of staging any political comeback.
Bo was a rising star in China’s leadership circles and cultivated a loyal following through his charisma and populist, quasi-Maoist policies, especially among those left out in the cold by China’s anything-for-growth economic policies.
But his career was stopped short last year by a murder scandal in which his wife, Gu Kailai, was convicted of poisoning a British businessman, Neil Heywood, who had been a family friend.
While Bo has the right to appeal within 10 days from Monday, the sentence effectively puts an end to his political ambitions and the glamorous lifestyle he enjoyed as a member of China’s ruling elite.
The court in the eastern city of Jinan, where Bo was tried, ordered that all his personal assets be seized, and deprived him of his political rights for life, according to a transcript released by the court’s official microblog.
“Bo Xilai was a servant of the state, he abused his power, causing huge damage to the country and its people … The circumstances were especially serious,” the court said in its judgement.
State media said he would probably appeal, in which case the supreme court in Shandong province, where Jinan is located, would have to hear the case within two months. As all courts are party controlled, they are unlikely to overturn the verdict.
While Bo could have been given the death penalty, many observers had felt this unlikely as the party would not have wanted to make a martyr of him.
Bo did himself few favours with his feisty defence at his 5-day trial, said Zhang Ming, a professor at Renmin University in Beijing. “My predication was for shorter,” he said. “His denial of guilt led to a longer sentence.”
The court showed a picture of a handcuffed Bo, with clenched fists in an apparent show of defiance, flanked by two towering policemen who held him by his shoulders and forearms. Two more policemen stood by.
Heavy security and roadblocks around the courthouse kept bystanders at bay, with no signs of any Bo sympathisers present, unlike at the start of the trial when a handful showed up to express their support for him.
At the close of Bo’s trial last month, prosecutors demanded a heavy sentence, saying his “whimsical” challenge to charges flew in the face of the evidence. The court rejected Bo’s defence almost entirely, aside from one small section of the bribery charge related to travel expenses for Bo’s wife and their son Bo Guagua paid for by businessman Xu Ming, for which it said the prosecution’s case was flawed.
It also rejected Bo’s claims of coming “under psychological pressure” when he said he initially admitted to Communist Party anti-corruption investigators that he had received bribes.
“The pressure Bo Xilai said he came under does not count as being illegal under the rules about forced confession,” it said.
One of Bo’s most high-profile supporters was unbowed by the sentence.
(AGENCIES)
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