"I am ashamed," the 64-year-old emphasized on the third day of the trial, according to court records in the eastern chinese city of jinan. Contrary to the accusations of the prosecution, however, he did not use his power as party leader of the 30-million metropolis of chongqing to cover up the murder of his wife.
The political thriller of murder, corruption and greed has kept china's billion-dollar empire on tenterhooks for more than a year. In november 2011, 41-year-old brit neil heywood was found dead in a hotel room. At that time it was said that he died from excessive alcohol consumption. Bo now testified, on 28. In january 2012, his police chief wang lijun had suddenly hinted to him that gu kailai was responsible for the death of heywood. "I thought that gu kailai was such a fragile person who could never commit murder."
Wang and bo were long close associates and styled themselves as fighters against organized crime in chongqing. In early 2012, the 53-year-old "super cop" threw himself over with bo xilai. Fearing for his life, wang lijun fled to a U.S. Consulate, where he spilled the beans about the murder and other plots. In september 2012, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for corruption, desertion and abuse of office. Gu kailai was sentenced to death on probation for murder in august 2012.
Bo goes on to say that he confronted his wife with wang's accusations. The 54-year-old said wang was trying to get at her. That's what he believed at first, bo said. He confronted wang and slapped him in the face.
One-time confidant wang said in court about the scene, "it wasn't just a slap. I noticed that blood was coming out of my mouth." He had been grossly afraid, wang reported. His staff and other people familiar with the case have disappeared. It was clear to him that bo wanted to cover up the case.
Bo said he was partly to blame for wang's escape into the US consulate. "This had an impact on the view of the party and the country. I am ashamed." He did not handle the case calmly and made a wrong decision. "For this, I am ready to bear the corresponding responsibility." But beyond that he was not to be blamed for anything.
"I did not go above the law to protect gu kailai," bo said. He had neither manipulated medical records nor forced wang to defect to the U.S. He did not, however, make clear whether he doubted that his wife was responsible for the murder.
In addition to abuse of power, the prosecution also accuses the former member of china's political elite of corruption and embezzlement. He is alleged to have accepted a total of 21 million yuan, the equivalent of 2.5 million euros, in bribes. Bo, however, described the testimonies of several businessmen against him as lies. In response to an official's report of an allegedly treasonous telephone conversation with bos, the defendant replied: "not even the dumbest official would discuss bribery on the phone."
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