Bo Xilai Case Nears Conclusion

Associated Press
Bo Xilai during testimony Saturday by former Chongqing city police chief Wang Lijun. Closing arguments in the trial are expected on Monday.

JINAN, China—Prosecutors wrapped up their case against Bo Xilai on Sunday, sparring with the defiant former Communist Party heavyweight over evidence he tried to block the investigation into his wife for the murder of a British businessman.
A weekend of testimony concluded with prosecutors presenting evidence that Mr. Bo had fired his former police chief, Wang Lijun, without going through the proper channels, and then procured a false medical certificate showing the man was mentally ill after Mr. Wang accused Mr. Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, of committing the murder, according to court transcripts.

That followed a tense courtroom confrontation on Saturday between Mr. Bo and Mr. Wang. Mr. Wang triggered China’s seamiest political scandal in more than three decades when he fled to a U.S. consulate in February last year and told diplomats there that Ms. Gu had murdered the Briton, Neil Heywood.

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In court, Mr. Wang and Mr. Bo gave differing accounts of a Jan. 29, 2012, meeting in the city of Chongqing, where Mr. Bo was party chief, after the police chief told him Ms. Gu was the killer.

Mr. Wang said Mr. Bo had punched him in the ear and smashed a water glass in anger. Mr. Bo admitted smashing the glass but said he had only slapped Mr. Wang, and had been convinced by Ms. Gu before the meeting that she was being framed.
In another surprising moment, Mr. Bo said he had had an affair, and that when Ms. Gu found out she was so angry she took their son, Bo Guagua, to study in Britain.
Mr. Bo’s trial, China’s most politically sensitive trial in more than three decades, resumed early Monday, with closing arguments from the prosecution and the defense and a final statement from Mr. Bo expected. The trial could possibly extend into another day, according to one person briefed by Mr. Bo’s lawyers.

“I expect Bo will apologize, and thank the party leadership,” said that person, who is close to the Bo family. “He’s not pleading guilty to anything, but he’s also being careful not to cross any red lines by criticizing the court or the party.”

Despite Mr. Bo’s vigorous defense and the party leadership’s unprecedented decision to publicize it online, he is still almost certain to be found guilty and to receive a lengthy jail term when the court announces the verdict and sentence, expected in September, lawyers and legal experts said.
The party maintains tight controls over the judiciary, and Chinese leaders are almost certain to have decided the outcome of this trial in advance in an attempt to conclude a scandal that shattered the image of austerity and unity they present to the Chinese public, the lawyers and legal experts said.

Gu Kailai, the wife of embattled former Chinese Communist Party star Bo Xilai, offered new details about a business dispute between their family. The WSJ’s Jeremy Page reports from the courthouse where Mr. Bo's trial is being held. Photo: Getty

They said that while court transcripts on the Chinese version of Twitter had given an impression of openness, the proceedings still appeared to have been carefully scripted to protect the party, lend credibility to the proceedings and to allow Mr. Bo to maintain some dignity, while shifting much of the blame onto his wife.

The four days of testimony have given the public a glimpse of the lifestyle of the Bo family, who are members of the communist elite. Prosecutors detailed lavish overseas travel by their son and a villa in the south of France that prosecutors allege is owned by Ms. Gu. The travel and the villa were paid for by business associates, Ms. Gu said during her trial.
Mr. Bo has denied the charges of bribery against him, saying he had no idea that his wife and son had accepted more than 21 million yuan ($3.4 million) in payments and gifts, including the villa, which became the focus of a dispute between them and Mr. Heywood. Ms. Gu hasn’t disputed accepting the payments and gifts; Bo Guagua hasn’t commented on them.
Bo Xilai has also denied the charge that he embezzled 5 million yuan from a government project in the city of Dalian, when he was a local official. After testimony from Ms. Gu was presented in court, he described her as a “crazy” person who “often tells lies.”
Mr. Bo showed some contrition over the weekend about the abuse of power charge against him, telling the court he was ashamed of the way he handled Mr. Wang’s accusations against his wife, and that he had “made mistakes and shown negligence,” although he said whether he was guilty of a crime was another question.

On Sunday, Mr. Bo described Mr. Wang as “full of deceit” and accused him of “spreading rumors,” according to the court transcripts. “He said I didn’t slap him in the ear but punched him, but I never trained at boxing and am not that strong,” Mr. Bo said.

In a short morning court session, prosecutors on Sunday presented further evidence from a total of more than 30 witnesses to show that Mr. Bo had abused his power in the way he handled Mr. Wang and other local officials in the aftermath of Mr. Wang’s accusations against his wife.

Witnesses for the prosecution testified that Mr. Bo had fired Mr. Wang because the police chief wanted to reopen the investigation into Mr. Heywood’s death, and that Mr. Bo had violated protocol by not getting approval from the Public Security Ministry in Beijing to fire the police chief.

The court heard testimony from several witnesses that Mr. Bo, at the suggestion of his wife, had procured a false medical certificate from a local hospital that declared Mr. Wang to be suffering from mental illness after he had fled to the U.S. consulate in February 2012.
The prosecution also presented testimony that Mr. Bo—again at the instigation of his wife—had initiated investigations into two other police officials to prevent them from revealing a police coverup of Mr. Heywood’s murder.

Mr. Bo said he hadn’t fired Mr. Wang but had transferred him to another post, as vice mayor in charge of industry, education and technology. Mr. Bo blamed his wife for the fake medical certificate and denied responsibility for launching investigations into the two other police officials. Ms. Gu admitted in testimony during Mr. Bo’s trial that she had obtained the fake certificate.
—William Kazer in Beijing and Yang Jie in Jinan contributed to this article.
Write to Jeremy Page at jeremy.page@wsj.com
A version of this article appeared August 25, 2013, on page A6 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Prosecutors Wrap Up Case Against Bo.

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