Chinese court finds former top politician guilty of corruption, accepting bribes and abuse of power.
A
Chinese court has sentenced former leading politician Bo Xilai to life in
prison after finding him guilty on charges of graft, accepting bribes and abuse
of power.
The Jinan Intermediate People's
Court announced the verdict against Bo on Sunday. It also ordered
that all his personal assets be seized, according to a transcript carried
on the court's official microblog.
The former Politburo member and
party chief of the megacity Chongqing vigorously denied any criminal
wrongdoings during the trial, but Chinese courts are not independent and a
guilty verdict was widely expected.
Bo was escorted into the court
by marshals on Sunday morning and stood to listen as the judge began
reading the lengthy verdict, which reviewed the facts established in the
trial.
Dozens of police, some uniformed
and others in plain clothes surrounded the court on Sunday. Barricades and
barriers were erected more than 50 metres away from the court to prevent people
from approaching.
Though edited transcripts from
the trial were posted online, China's government has tightly controlled
information about Bo's case, and police erected barriers to stop pedestrians
from entering areas around the court.
'Lied in his testimony'
Bo poured billions into public
works and social housing programmes while party chief of the southwestern
megacity of Chongqing, where he launched a high-profile anti-crime campaign
that won him admirers across China.
Despite his popularity, reports
of forced confessions and torture during the crime crackdown horrified Chinese
liberals, while some top party leaders saw his ambition as challenging the
party's cherished unity.
The verdict came as China's new
leadership under President Xi Jinping attempts to show it is cracking down on
corruption, which he has said threatens the existence of the Communist Party.
The catalyst for Bo's fall came
when Wang Lijun, his top aide in Chongqing, fled to a US consulate with
evidence the politician's wife had murdered a British associate, Neil Heywood,
in February 2012.
Bo told the court that Lijun,
the Chongqing police chief, "constantly
lied in his testimony".
At the close of Bo's dramatic trial
last month, a prosecutor urged the court to punish the disgraced politician
with a severe sentence because of his lack of remorse.
Bo mounted a fierce defence
against claims that he corruptly obtained 26.8 million yuan ($4.4m) and abused
his political position to cover up the killing committed by his wife.
He accused his
wife, Gu Kailai, for many of the corruption charges and even some
aspects of the abuse of power allegation.
Gu received a suspended death
sentence for the murder of Heywood.
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