Gu Kailai, wife of disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai, gets death sentence in murder trial

[jsr]

Source: Associated Press

(AP) HEFEI, China - The wife of a disgraced Chinese politician was given a suspended death sentence Monday after confessing to killing a British businessman by poisoning him with cyanide in a case that rocked the country's top political leadership.

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

Sentenced along with Gu Kailai was a family aide who was given nine years' imprisonment for his involvement in the murder of Neil Heywood, a former family associate, said He Zhengsheng, a lawyer for the Heywood family who attended the sentencing in this eastern China city.

The sentencing closes one chapter of China's biggest political crisis in two decades, but also 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.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57496121/gu-kailai-wife-of-disgraced-chinese-politician-bo-xilai-gets-death-sentence-in-murder-trial/

[davidpdx]

1. It wasn't much of a trial, of course that's China for you.

I think the suspended death sentence was a face saving measure to make her sentence appear more strict than it was.

[Suji to Seoul]

2. She pretty much admitted it in public, then gave the court the "go fuck yourself" attitude

This decision was pre-determined.

As for the face saving measure. . .absolutely. It's all people here know how to do effectively.

[davidpdx]

3. I'm not one for conspiracy theories usually

But I just wouldn't put it past the Chinese Government that the confession was coerced in some way. I haven't been following it closely because like you said, it was a foregone conclusion that she'd be found guilty and either she was going to go to prison for the rest of her life or get death. Given it is prison in China death might have been more humane.

[jsr]

4. China's Gu May Spend Only 9 Years in Prison

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443713704577600990316850180.html

BEIJING—Gu Kailai, the wife of deposed Communist Party official Bo Xilai, could be released from prison within nine years on medical parole, legal experts say, despite being given a suspended death sentence for the murder of a British businessman.

Ms. Gu's sentence is almost certain to be commuted to life in prison after two years, the experts said. But she could serve less than a decade, they said—all in the relative comfort of a prison reserved for high-profile political figures.

They cited several previous examples of prominent political figures who were given suspended death sentences or long prison terms, and then released on medical parole after serving a few years, mostly in Qincheng prison on the outskirts of Beijing.

Even Jiang Qing, the widow of Chairman Mao Zedong, was released on medical parole from Qincheng in 1991—10 years after being given a suspended death sentence with a two-year reprieve for her role in the political chaos of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution.