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THE courtroom inside the Intermediate People’s Court in Hefei, east China’s Anhui Province, was packed to capacity with more than 140 people on August 9, as a closely watched murder trial began on a case that has gathered international attention because of its links to one of China’s top ranked and most charismatic Communist Party of China (CPC) leaders.
The two defendants of the intentional homicide case were Bogu Kailai and Zhang Xiaojun. They were accused of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood at a hotel in Chongqing Municipality last year.
Bogu, 53, was a practicing lawyer in Beijing. she is the wife of Bo Xilai, former Party chief of southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality and a former member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
In April, the CPC Central Committee suspended Bo from his posts at the committee and its Political Bureau because he was suspected of being involved in serious violations of discipline.
Bo is under investigation by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
Zhang, 22, was an employee of the General Office of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee.
Diplomats from the British embassy and consulates in China, media representatives, deputies to China’s legislature and members of China’s political advisory body were all present at the trial.
The case
The proceedings began at 8:30 a.m.
According to the indictment, Bogu and her son, surnamed Bo, had conflicts with Heywood over economic interests. Concerned about Heywood’s threat to her son’s personal safety, Bogu poisoned him with the assistance of Zhang.
Bogu said in her testimony that “it was in about 2005 when my son was studying in Britain that Neil Heywood wrote us a letter introducing himself, showing his intent to get to know us.”
She then testified that after she and her son became acquainted with Heywood, she brought him on to serve as a proxy to a company and participate in the planning of a land project, which never got started. Heywood later got into a dispute with the two over payment and other issues, and he threatened her son’s personal safety.
In court, prosecutors presented e-mails exchanged between Heywood and Bogu, showing how the dispute between the two had escalated.
According to the evidence presented by prosecutors, after Bogu learned of the escalation of their dispute, she believed Heywood had become a threat to her son and decided to kill Heywood using poison.
“To me, it was more than a threat; it was real action that was taking place. I had to fight to my death to stop the madness of Neil Heywood,” said Bogu in testimony prosecutors presented in court.
During the trial, the Ministry of Public security’s reports and position papers on the examination of material evidence, as offered by prosecutors, showed that blood extracted from Heywood’s heart and samples of his vomit collected at the crime scene contained cyanide ions, showing Heywood’s death was caused by cyanide poisoning. The conclusion was based on renewed examination and identification of trace evidence taken at the crime scene as well as the blood sample, which was collected and preserved by the Public security Bureau of Chongqing after his death.
The People’s Procuratorate of Hefei accused the two defendants of murder by poisoning. With clear facts and substantial evidence, their behavior violated Article 232 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China; therefore, the two defendants should be held criminally responsible for intentional homicide. The case is a joint offense, with Bogu Kailai as the principal offender and Zhang Xiaojun as the accessory.
On August 20, Hefei Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Bogu to suspended death and Zhang to nine years in prison.
Investigation
After Wang Lijun, former Vice Mayor of Chongqing and chief of the Public security Bureau of the municipality, entered the U.s. Consulate General in Chengdu, capital city of southwest China’s sichuan Province, on February 6, without authorization, the Ministry of Public security looked into his report that Bogu was suspected of murdering Heywood.
The ministry set up a team to reinvestigate the case in accordance with the law, and found that Heywood had been the victim of homicide. Bogu and Zhang were then considered prime suspects.
On suspicion of intentional homicide, Bogu and Zhang were put under residential surveillance on March 15.
After Bogu was held by investigators for questioning, she first refused to call on a lawyer. In a bid to protect the legitimate rights of a criminal suspect, the judicial staff informed her of her right to a lawyer several times.
Bogu eventually decided on her own to entrust two lawyers to represent her, and Zhang chose to entrust one lawyer to represent him.
To ensure an impartial handling of the case, the Ministry of Public security, the supreme People’s Procuratorate and the supreme People’s Court designated the Public security Bureau, the People’s Procuratorate and the Intermediate People’s Court of Hefei to carry out the investigation, prosecution and trial of the case, respectively.
The trial on August 9 lasted for about seven hours.
When the trial was about to close at 3:10 p.m., Bogu said in her final statement that she accepted all the facts written in the indictment. After she was sentenced to suspended death on August 20, she indicated that she accepted the verdict.
“The case has dealt severe blows to the Party and the country, for which I ought to shoulder the responsibility. I am grateful to the humanitarian care shown to me by those who handled the case. I solemnly tell the court that in order to maintain the dignity of the law, I will calmly accept any sentence and will expect a fair and just court decision,” she said in court on August 9.
Zhang said in his final statement that he confessed his guilt, and wished to extend his apologies to the relatives of the victim. “I hope the court can give me a chance to take a new lease on life. I know what I did was wrong.”
Police corruption
On August 10, four former police officers in Chongqing also stood trial in Hefei on charges of covering up Bogu’s illegal conduct during the investigation into Heywood’s death.
According to the evidence submitted by the prosecutors at the trial of Bogu, after Heywood was found dead on the morning of November 15, 2011, Guo Weiguo, former deputy chief of Chongqing’s Public security Bureau, who has close ties with Bogu’s family, was designated to handle the case by Wang Lijun.
Through interviews and on-the-scene investigations, Guo and other defendants found that Bogu was highly suspected of committing the crime. They covered up Bogu’s presence at the scene by fabricating interview records, hiding material evidence and other measures.
Guo and other individuals decided through consultations to list the official cause of Heywood’s death as sudden death after drinking alcohol, and did not put it on file as a criminal case. They also persuaded Heywood’s family members to accept their conclusion of the cause of death and cremated the body in Chongqing without performing an autopsy.
“Everybody should abide by the law; otherwise, he or she must be punished, no matter who they are or how high of a position they occupy,” said Wang Xiuqin, a member to the Anhui Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, who listened to the judgment on August 20.
The two defendants of the intentional homicide case were Bogu Kailai and Zhang Xiaojun. They were accused of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood at a hotel in Chongqing Municipality last year.
Bogu, 53, was a practicing lawyer in Beijing. she is the wife of Bo Xilai, former Party chief of southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality and a former member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
In April, the CPC Central Committee suspended Bo from his posts at the committee and its Political Bureau because he was suspected of being involved in serious violations of discipline.
Bo is under investigation by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
Zhang, 22, was an employee of the General Office of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee.
Diplomats from the British embassy and consulates in China, media representatives, deputies to China’s legislature and members of China’s political advisory body were all present at the trial.
The case
The proceedings began at 8:30 a.m.
According to the indictment, Bogu and her son, surnamed Bo, had conflicts with Heywood over economic interests. Concerned about Heywood’s threat to her son’s personal safety, Bogu poisoned him with the assistance of Zhang.
Bogu said in her testimony that “it was in about 2005 when my son was studying in Britain that Neil Heywood wrote us a letter introducing himself, showing his intent to get to know us.”
She then testified that after she and her son became acquainted with Heywood, she brought him on to serve as a proxy to a company and participate in the planning of a land project, which never got started. Heywood later got into a dispute with the two over payment and other issues, and he threatened her son’s personal safety.
In court, prosecutors presented e-mails exchanged between Heywood and Bogu, showing how the dispute between the two had escalated.
According to the evidence presented by prosecutors, after Bogu learned of the escalation of their dispute, she believed Heywood had become a threat to her son and decided to kill Heywood using poison.
“To me, it was more than a threat; it was real action that was taking place. I had to fight to my death to stop the madness of Neil Heywood,” said Bogu in testimony prosecutors presented in court.
During the trial, the Ministry of Public security’s reports and position papers on the examination of material evidence, as offered by prosecutors, showed that blood extracted from Heywood’s heart and samples of his vomit collected at the crime scene contained cyanide ions, showing Heywood’s death was caused by cyanide poisoning. The conclusion was based on renewed examination and identification of trace evidence taken at the crime scene as well as the blood sample, which was collected and preserved by the Public security Bureau of Chongqing after his death.
The People’s Procuratorate of Hefei accused the two defendants of murder by poisoning. With clear facts and substantial evidence, their behavior violated Article 232 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China; therefore, the two defendants should be held criminally responsible for intentional homicide. The case is a joint offense, with Bogu Kailai as the principal offender and Zhang Xiaojun as the accessory.
On August 20, Hefei Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Bogu to suspended death and Zhang to nine years in prison.
Investigation
After Wang Lijun, former Vice Mayor of Chongqing and chief of the Public security Bureau of the municipality, entered the U.s. Consulate General in Chengdu, capital city of southwest China’s sichuan Province, on February 6, without authorization, the Ministry of Public security looked into his report that Bogu was suspected of murdering Heywood.
The ministry set up a team to reinvestigate the case in accordance with the law, and found that Heywood had been the victim of homicide. Bogu and Zhang were then considered prime suspects.
On suspicion of intentional homicide, Bogu and Zhang were put under residential surveillance on March 15.
After Bogu was held by investigators for questioning, she first refused to call on a lawyer. In a bid to protect the legitimate rights of a criminal suspect, the judicial staff informed her of her right to a lawyer several times.
Bogu eventually decided on her own to entrust two lawyers to represent her, and Zhang chose to entrust one lawyer to represent him.
To ensure an impartial handling of the case, the Ministry of Public security, the supreme People’s Procuratorate and the supreme People’s Court designated the Public security Bureau, the People’s Procuratorate and the Intermediate People’s Court of Hefei to carry out the investigation, prosecution and trial of the case, respectively.
The trial on August 9 lasted for about seven hours.
When the trial was about to close at 3:10 p.m., Bogu said in her final statement that she accepted all the facts written in the indictment. After she was sentenced to suspended death on August 20, she indicated that she accepted the verdict.
“The case has dealt severe blows to the Party and the country, for which I ought to shoulder the responsibility. I am grateful to the humanitarian care shown to me by those who handled the case. I solemnly tell the court that in order to maintain the dignity of the law, I will calmly accept any sentence and will expect a fair and just court decision,” she said in court on August 9.
Zhang said in his final statement that he confessed his guilt, and wished to extend his apologies to the relatives of the victim. “I hope the court can give me a chance to take a new lease on life. I know what I did was wrong.”
Police corruption
On August 10, four former police officers in Chongqing also stood trial in Hefei on charges of covering up Bogu’s illegal conduct during the investigation into Heywood’s death.
According to the evidence submitted by the prosecutors at the trial of Bogu, after Heywood was found dead on the morning of November 15, 2011, Guo Weiguo, former deputy chief of Chongqing’s Public security Bureau, who has close ties with Bogu’s family, was designated to handle the case by Wang Lijun.
Through interviews and on-the-scene investigations, Guo and other defendants found that Bogu was highly suspected of committing the crime. They covered up Bogu’s presence at the scene by fabricating interview records, hiding material evidence and other measures.
Guo and other individuals decided through consultations to list the official cause of Heywood’s death as sudden death after drinking alcohol, and did not put it on file as a criminal case. They also persuaded Heywood’s family members to accept their conclusion of the cause of death and cremated the body in Chongqing without performing an autopsy.
“Everybody should abide by the law; otherwise, he or she must be punished, no matter who they are or how high of a position they occupy,” said Wang Xiuqin, a member to the Anhui Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, who listened to the judgment on August 20.