Bo Xilai was once tipped for high office in China
Former top Chinese politician Bo Xilai is appearing in court in the city of Jinan for the fourth day of his trial on corruption and other charges.
The court is to hear further testimony from close associate Wang Lijun over allegations of abuse of power.
On Saturday the trial focused on accusations that Mr Bo covered up the murder of UK businessman Neil Heywood.
Mr Bo, a former Communist Party chief in the central city of Chongqing, denies wrongdoing.
The scandals involving Mr Bo's family have captivated the country.
Mr Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, has already been convicted of murdering Mr Heywood.
Many analysts assume the outcome of the trial has been predetermined with a guilty verdict, however, observers say Mr Bo has put up a spirited defence.
Foreign media are not allowed into the trial, but the court in the eastern city of Jinan has been posting regular updates on China's micro-blogging site Weibo (in Mandarin) - translated by the BBC.
"Both the prosecution and defence are examining witness testimony by Wang Lijun," the court posted on its account on Weibo on Sunday.
It was not clear whether Mr Wang, who was Mr Bo's police chief in Chongqing, was back in court to continue testifying in person.
On Saturday, Mr Bo said he made "serious errors of judgement" but that the charges against him were "exaggerated".
"On the matter of abuse of office, I made mistakes, this reflected badly on the image of the party and the state. I feel sorry for that," Mr Bo told the court.
Former police chief Wang Lijun is testifying against his old boss
"However I do think the charges against me exaggerated my role in these incidents," he added.
The abuse of office charge stems from accusations that Mr Bo knew and covered up the fact that his wife murdered Neil Heywood in November 2011.
Mr Bo told the court he had discussed the accusations with her, and his wife told him that she was being framed for the murder.
Mr Bo also described two difficult meetings he had with Wang Lijun on 28 and 29 January 2012.
Temper
Mr Bo, according to the court's updates, admitted he "did not behave in a calm manner" when Mr Wang accused Gu Kilai of being responsible for Mr Haywood's death.
He told the court he slapped Mr Wang. "I couldn't control my temper at that moment," the transcript quotes him as saying.
"I always thought Wang Lijun was Gu Kailai's best friend, but Wang suddenly told me Gu committed murder," Mr Bo goes on.
Days after this confrontation, Mr Wang fled to a US consulate to seek asylum, and the scandal became public knowledge.
"I never meant to... protect Gu. I didn't mean to force Wang Lijun away," Mr Bo said.
Wang Lijun has already stood trial for his own actions and been jailed for 15 years, for defection, power abuse and bribe-taking.
Security is tight outside the courthouse in Jinan
Giving his account of the 29 January meeting at Mr Bo's office, Mr Wang told the court on Saturday that Mr Bo swore for three minutes before walking round his desk and confronting him.
"He suddenly struck me with his fist and hit my left ear. It was not merely a slap... I found the corner of my mouth was bleeding."
Gu Kilai has also testified against her husband. On Friday, Mr Bo described his wife as "insane" because she had implicated him in corruption.
She claimed that wealthy Chinese entrepreneur Xu Ming bought gifts for the family in order to gain favours.
Mr Bo is also accused of embezzling 5m yuan ($800,000; £524,000) in 2000 which had been earmarked for a construction project in Dalian. Mr Bo was the city's mayor in the 1990s.
But at Saturday's hearing he blamed his wife for this, saying he had no knowledge that she had taken the money until later on.
Đăng ký: Tieng Anh Vui


21:28
Tieng Anh Vui
Posted in:
0 comments:
Post a Comment