Gu Kailai gets suspended death sentence

20 Aug 2012, 5:52 pm   -   Source: AAP

The wife of a disgraced Chinese politician has been given a suspended death sentence after confessing to murdering a British businessman.

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The wife of a disgraced Chinese politician has been given a suspended death sentence after confessing to killing a British businessman by poisoning him with cyanide.

A suspended sentence is usually commuted to life in prison after two years.

The case has rocked China's top political leaders.

Sentenced along with Gu Kailai on Monday was a family aide who was given nine years' imprisonment for his involvement in the murder of Neil Heywood, a former family associate, Hefei Intermediate People's Court official Tang Yigan told reporters.

Four policemen accused of covering up the crime were given sentences from five to 11 years.

The sentencing closes one chapter of China's biggest political crisis in two decades, but leaves open questions over the fate of Gu's husband, Bo Xilai, who was dismissed in March as the powerful Communist Party boss of the major city of Chongqing for unspecified violations.

Bo's dismissal and his wife's murder trial come at a sensitive time in China, with party leaders handing over power soon to a younger generation. At one time Bo was considered a candidate for a top position.

State media say Gu, 53, confessed to intentional homicide at a one-day trial held in this eastern China city on August 9. The court has been closed to international journalists, but media reports say she and Heywood had a dispute over money and Heywood allegedly threatened her son.

Gu was accused of luring the victim to a Chongqing hotel, getting him drunk and then pouring cyanide into his mouth.

He Zhengsheng, a lawyer for the Heywood family who attended the sentencing, said he had to discuss the verdict with the family and did not know if they would lodge an appeal.

"We respect the court's ruling today," he said.

Tang said Gu and the family aide, Zhang Xiaojun, told the court they would not appeal.

State broadcaster CCTV showed Gu briefly addressing the court from inside the dock.

"This verdict is just. It shows special respect for the law, reality and life," Gu said calmly.

Tang said the court considered Gu's testimony against others, her confession and repentance, and her psychological impairment as mitigating factors in sentencing. But he said it rejected claims that Heywood's threats had prompted the crime, saying there was no evidence he intended to make good on them.

During Gu's trial, the court was told she had suffered from chronic insomnia, anxiety and depression and paranoia in the past, and that she had been dependent on medication, but it found that she was wilfully carried out the murder.

An amendment to China's criminal law in 2011 said that criminals with life sentences who show proper conduct can have their life sentences cut to 25 years in jail.

For their part in the cover-up, former deputy Chongqing police chief Guo Weiguo was sentenced to 11 years, leading officer Li Yang was given 11 years, and officers Wang Pengfei and Wang Zhi were given five years each.

Former Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun, whose February flight to a US consulate revealed suspicions that Heywood had been murdered, is expected to go on trial soon. Gu allegedly told Wang about her crime, but it isn't known if he will be charged in relation to the murder.

Security was tight outside the court on Monday, with police officers standing guard around the building and at least a half dozen SWAT police vans parked on each corner.

Any ruling in the Gu case would have been politically delicate, and Chinese leaders may have decided to impose a lengthy prison term instead of death for fear that a more severe penalty might stir outrage or make Gu look like a scapegoat for her husband's misdeeds, political and legal analysts say.

Cheng Li, an expert in Chinese elite politics at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said the verdict was fair.

"My sense is that the Chinese public, including the legal profession, the majority will think it is well deserved," he said.

Li said the ruling against Gu will set expectations for Bo to be dealt with severely.

"If Bo does not get put through the legal process in the next few months, Gu will be seen as a scapegoat," he said.

The British Embassy, which had consular officials attend the trial, issued a statement Monday saying it welcomed the fact China had tried those it had identified as responsible.

The statement said Britain had told China it "wanted to see the trials in this case conform to international human rights standards and for the death penalty not to be applied".

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