HEFEI, China (Reuters) - British diplomats entered a courtroom in an eastern Chinese city on Thursday for the opening of the country's most sensational trial in three decades, a hearing into the murder of a British businessman that has rocked the Communist Party leadership.
Entry to the courtroom was restricted but the diplomats were invited to be present because of the nationality of the victim. Journalists were not being allowed in, and it appeared any coverage would be only from state media outlets.
The trial is expected to lead to the swift conviction of Gu Kailai, the wife of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai, and her co-accused, a family aide, who are charged with poisoning Briton Neil Heywood last year.
Bo was formerly considered a contender for the inner sanctum of power - the party's Politburo Standing Committee - in a once-in-a-decade leadership transition that is currently underway. The new leadership is expected to be unveiled in October.
Though many Chinese believe Gu may be guilty, they see her trial as part of a push against Bo, an ambitious populist who made powerful enemies as he campaigned to join the next generation of top central leaders.
Two British envoys, arriving in heavy rain at the granite-and-glass courthouse in eastern Hefei city, told a scrum of reporters outside the building they would not discuss the case but were expecting to court to eventually make a statement.
"There will be a briefing afterwards," said one the diplomats as the pair arrived amid tight security. He later added that the court could simply make a statement instead.
The courthouse was ringed by dozens of police, with some surrounding streets blocked off with cones.
Gu, herself a career lawyer, is set to be defended by a state-appointed lawyer with meager experience in criminal cases, leaving little doubt she will be convicted.
The state has decided who will represent Gu, denying her the use of a family lawyer - a move that has also prompted Gu's 90-year-old mother, Fan Xiucheng, to recently complain to the Justice Ministry, according to a source close to the family.
"The answer (from the ministry) was that the legal process did not have to be fully carried out in this case and that Fan should stop pestering them," the source said.
SENSATIONAL TRIAL
The trial of Gu, glamorous daughter of the ruling Communist Party aristocracy, is the most politically sensitive since the conviction of the Gang of Four more than 30 years ago for crimes during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution.
But despite British calls for the case to be handled fairly and to unearth the truth around Heywood's death, her defense has instead been entrusted to two provincial lawyers.
The two lawyers, Jiang Min and Zhou Yuhao, could not be reached for comment but a search of public information shows the more senior attorney, Jiang, is a specialist in financial cases and that neither has any obvious connection to the Bo family.
A newspaper profile of Jiang from 2005, which was posted on Jiang's own website, quoted him as saying that he was "an expert in financial law, who rarely conducts criminal defenses", although he has represented some officials accused of corruption in the more than 20 years he has been practicing law.
Little is known of Gu's other lawyer, Zhou, except that he, like Jiang, is from Anhui province in eastern China. Gu will stand trial in the provincial capital, Hefei, a bustling city more than 1,000 km (650 miles) east of the scene of the alleged crime - Chongqing, the vast municipality formerly ruled by Bo.
Gu and family aide Zhang Xiaojun face the death penalty if convicted of poisoning Heywood, a former family friend, last November in a dispute that has not been spelt out in the very little official information released on the case.
But many legal experts expect Gu will be convicted but only sentenced to a lengthy jail term.
Police sources initially claimed Gu had poisoned Heywood in a dispute over an illicit financial transaction she had wanted him to help her complete, and they portrayed Gu as a greedy wife who was translating her husband's connections into dollars.
But when Gu was formally indicted, the official allegation instead hinted at a personal motive, saying Heywood had made unspecified threats against her son Bo Guagua, a factor that may count as a mitigating circumstance and help Gu avoid execution.
The younger Bo, who is believed to be still in the United States after graduating from Harvard this summer, told CNN in an e-mail that he had submitted a witness statement to the court.
"I hope that my mother will have the opportunity to review them," he added. "I have faith that facts will speak for themselves." CNN said he did not elaborate.
QUICK TRIAL
The trial and sentencing of both Gu and Zhang, are widely expected to be completed within a few weeks at most. The case is seen as a prelude to a possible criminal prosecution of Bo, who is being detained for violating party discipline - an accusation that covers corruption, abuse of power and other misdeeds.
The move against Bo, who was a favorite of party leftists by promoting himself as a friend of the poor and an enemy of corruption, was sacked as Chongqing party chief in March after his police chief, Wang Lijun, identified Gu as a suspect in Heywood's death.
On Thursday morning, with the trial set to begin at around 8.30 a.m. (2030 EDT), there was no sign of Gu's elderly mother, nor of any members of Heywood's family in or around the courtroom.
(Additional reporting by Chris Buckley and Benjamin Kang Lim in BEIJING; Writing by Mark Bendeich; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/british-envoys-arrive-china-murder-trial-011224763.html
current world news 2011 current world news for kids daily world news bbc diane sawyer world news tonight disney world news 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment