Bo Xilai sentenced to life, found guilty on all charges Sunday Sep 22,2013

Former Politburo member Bo Xilai was on Sunday Sep 22,2013 handed a  sentence of life in prison, as the Court in Jinan, in Eastern China's Shandong Province. said he had been found guilty of accepting bribes in excess of 20 million Yuan (around Rs. 20 crore)and rejected all arguments put forward by Bo’s defence, ruling that the testimonies provided by his wife, Gu Kailai, and business tycoon Xu Ming, had been corroborated

 

 

Sunday’s sentencing laid out, in detail, charges of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power, appearing to almost completely endorse the case put forward by prosecutors during last month’s 5-day trial.

 

The court said Bo Xilai(64) would serve a life term in prison, as well as 15 years for embezzlement. The terms would be served concurrently

 

Bo Xilai has 10 days to appeal the decision at a higher provincial court in Shandong. But in the Chinese one-party system, where the courts are under the ruling party’s thumb, sentences are rarely overturned.  

Chinese Court Rejects Bo Xilai Appeal & upholds life sentence

 

A Chinese court has rejected the appeal of former politician Bo Xilai and upheld his life sentence for bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power

"The court rules as follows: reject the appeal, uphold the original verdict. This verdict is the final ruling."

The high court in Shandong, the province where Bo's trial was held, accepted his appeal earlier this month.
"The facts of the first instance verdict are clear, the evidence is reliable, sufficient and the sentence is appropriate," the high court said in its ruling, which was posted on its website

Bo Xilai Case Timeline

 

• 2 February 2012 -Wang Lijun seeks refuge at the US consulate in Chengdu
• 15 March - Bo Xilai is removed from his post as party chief in Chongqing
• 26 March - UK confirms it has asked China to re-examine Neil Heywood's death
• 10 April - Bo Xilai is stripped of his Communist Party posts and his wife Gu Kailai is investigated over Neil Heywood's death
• 20 August - Gu Kailai is given a suspended death sentence for the murder of Neil Heywood
• 28 September - Bo Xilai is expelled from the Communist Party
• 25 July 2013 - Bo Xilai is charged with corruption, bribery and abuse of power
• 22 September: Bo Xilai found guilty on all charges and sentenced to life