FT: “The verdict in the murder trial of the wife of disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai will be announced on Monday, wrapping up a key phase in the Communist party’s efforts to deal with its biggest internal crisis in decades.
Mr Bo’s wife Gu Kailai and Zhang Xiaojun, a former family aide and co-defendant, were tried in the eastern city of Hefei on August 9 on charges of murdering Neil Heywood, the Bo family’s British business agent.
The verdict would be announced at 9am on Monday, said the Hefei Intermediate People’s Court.
Ms Gu is widely expected to be found guilty because Chinese state media had spoken of “irrefutable evidence” against her even before the trial started, and she confessed in court, according to observers present at the trial.
Chinese courts, which play a growing role in commercial disputes in the country, enjoy little or no independence in cases that are considered politically sensitive or touch upon the interests of government or party officials, well-connected individuals or state enterprises.
Ms Gu’s trial, which lasted for less than eight hours, was tightly stage-managed, with authorities barring access for foreign media.
The official accounts of the proceedings have triggered doubts and debate over the validity of Ms Gu’s reported confession and other details of the trial.
Two security experts familiar with facial recognition software said the person shown in state television footage of the courtroom was not Ms Gu.
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via Gu Kailai verdict set for Monday – FT.com.
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