Sunday, August 19, 2012 10:50:36 PM
Chinese politician's wife convicted of murder
Gu Kailai, wife of prominent politician Bo Xilai, given suspended death sentence for murder of British businessman.
Last Modified: 20 Aug 2012 02:35
He Zhengsheng, the lawyer of the victim's family, announced the verdict to reporters outside the court [AP]
Gu Kailai, the wife of a Chinese politician, has been given a suspended death sentence over the murder of a British businessman, a lawyer for the victim's family told reporters.
"We respect today's decision," said He Zhengsheng, representing the family of Neil Heywood, who was killed last November.
Monday's sentence means Gu is likely to face life in prison, provided she does not commit offences in the next two years.
Gu admitted in court earlier this month to poisoning Heywood after a business dispute that she said had led him to threaten her son.
The scandal ended the career of Gu's husband, Bo Xilai, who was once seen as a contender for a place in China's next Communist Party leadership, which will be announced later this year.
In March Bo was removed as party secretary of the city of Chongqing, with the party citing unspecified violations as the reason.
Zhang Xiaojun, a Bo family aide who admitted to helping Gu with the murder, received a 9-year jail sentence, lawyer He said. Non-official media were not allowed in the courtroom.
Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride in Hong Kong described this case as one of the “biggest scandals to hit the Communist Party of China in the past two decades.”
“Lots of questions are still left unanswered about Bo Xilai’s involvement in all of this,” McBride said. “He hasn’t been seen in public since March and there is lots of speculation about his involvement in the murder of Heywood and whether he was involved or not in any cover up.”
McBride said that with the today’s verdict, China's leadership will hope to see an end to the whole scandal months before it will hand over power to younger leaders.
Gu's arrest and the ousting of her husband sparked the biggest political turbulence in China since the bloody crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests in 1989.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2012/08/201282011725257481.html
Gu Kailai, wife of prominent politician Bo Xilai, given suspended death sentence for murder of British businessman.
Last Modified: 20 Aug 2012 02:35
He Zhengsheng, the lawyer of the victim's family, announced the verdict to reporters outside the court [AP]
Gu Kailai, the wife of a Chinese politician, has been given a suspended death sentence over the murder of a British businessman, a lawyer for the victim's family told reporters.
"We respect today's decision," said He Zhengsheng, representing the family of Neil Heywood, who was killed last November.
Monday's sentence means Gu is likely to face life in prison, provided she does not commit offences in the next two years.
Gu admitted in court earlier this month to poisoning Heywood after a business dispute that she said had led him to threaten her son.
The scandal ended the career of Gu's husband, Bo Xilai, who was once seen as a contender for a place in China's next Communist Party leadership, which will be announced later this year.
In March Bo was removed as party secretary of the city of Chongqing, with the party citing unspecified violations as the reason.
Zhang Xiaojun, a Bo family aide who admitted to helping Gu with the murder, received a 9-year jail sentence, lawyer He said. Non-official media were not allowed in the courtroom.
Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride in Hong Kong described this case as one of the “biggest scandals to hit the Communist Party of China in the past two decades.”
“Lots of questions are still left unanswered about Bo Xilai’s involvement in all of this,” McBride said. “He hasn’t been seen in public since March and there is lots of speculation about his involvement in the murder of Heywood and whether he was involved or not in any cover up.”
McBride said that with the today’s verdict, China's leadership will hope to see an end to the whole scandal months before it will hand over power to younger leaders.
Gu's arrest and the ousting of her husband sparked the biggest political turbulence in China since the bloody crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests in 1989.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2012/08/201282011725257481.html
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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