Details of the trials of Wang Lijun
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E-mail Xinhua, September 19, 2012
After Wang Lijun entered the U.S. Consulate without authorization, police began to attach more importance to Bogu Kailai's alleged murder of British national Neil Heywood, which was reported by Wang. The police set up a team to review the case, as well as re-investigated and cracked the case according to law.
Since Wang's exposure of the case objectively played an important role in cracking it, why was he charged with bending the law for selfish ends? How did the conflicts between Wang and Bogu Kailai's family come into being and gradually escalate? Why did Wang defect?
Based on an audit of the open trial, a media briefing and introduction by bodies authorized to handle the case, the full process and key points of Wang's case unfolded as follows:
-- BENDING THE LAW FOR SELFISH ENDS
Bogu Kailai and her son, surnamed Bo, had conflicts with Heywood over economic interests. Bogu Kailai thought Heywood had endangered her son's personal safety.
On Nov. 12, 2011, after a discussion with Bogu Kailai and some other people, Wang arranged surveillance and control efforts targeted at Heywood under the pretext that Heywood may have committed drug-related crimes.
On the night of Nov. 13, Bogu Kailai and Zhang Xiaojun, then an employee of the general office of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and a family assistant for Bogu Kailai, poisoned Heywood at the Lucky Holiday Hotel in Chongqing. At midnight, after a talk on the phone with Bogu Kailai, Wang was informed that she had met Heywood in the hotel and had a drink with him.
The next day, Bogu Kailai recounted her murder of Heywood in detail to Wang in her residence. Wang secretly recorded her confession.
"At noon on Nov. 14, Wang Lijun came to the No. 3 building (Bogu Kailai's residence). When I met Wang Lijun that day, I told him in detail about how I met and poisoned Neil on the night of Nov.13. He told me not to be bothered by the case, which would have nothing to do with me in the future. He also told me to erase my memories about the case. I told him I was a bit worried, he told me it would be fine within a week or two," Bogu Kailai said while testifying at the trial.
A recording presented by prosecutors during the trial featured Wang and Bogu Kailai as interlocutors, and Bogu Kailai was telling Wang the details of her poisoning of Heywood.
On Nov. 15, after Heywood was found dead, Wang Lijun instructed Guo Weiguo, then deputy chief of the Chongqing's Public Security Bureau and a close friend of Bogu Kailai, to handle the case without telling Guo or other policemen that he possessed clues and recorded evidence of Bogu Kailai's involvement.
Later on, Wang called a vice chief of criminal investigations surnamed Huang away from the crime scene and asked him to leave the case.
"I was so consumed by my selfish ideas then that I didn't want to handle the case," Wang said.
The next morning, Guo Weiguo, Li Yang (former chief of the bureau's crime department, sentenced), Wang Pengfei (former chief of the bureau's technical detection team and also former chief of the Public Security Sub-bureau of Chongqing's Yubei district, sentenced), and Wang Zhi (former executive deputy chief of the Public Security Sub-bureau of the municipality's Shapingba District, sentenced) concluded that Heywood died from an alcohol overdose. Wang did not oppose their conclusion.
On Nov. 17, Wang offered Bogu Kailai a videotape showing her appearance in the hotel, extracted by Guo Weiguo and other policemen from the crime scene.
"Wang told me that it was a security videotape from the hotel that showed that no one visited Heywood after I left his place. He meant to protect me," Bogu Kailai said in her testimony.
On Nov. 18, Heywood was cremated. That evening, Wang told Bogu Kailai about the cremation during a phone call.
"On the evening of Nov. 18, 2011, Wang Lijun called me and asked Bogu Kailai to listen. After the call, Bogu Kailai said Wang used the phrase 'becoming smoke and ashes, gone to the west'," (a euphemism indicating that Heywood had been cremated,) Zhang Xiaojun said in his testimony.
Why did Wang Lijun shy away from his responsibilities and deliberately cover up for Bogu Kailai so that she would not be held legally responsible, even if he knew the truth?
"After coming to Chongqing, I visited Bogu Kailai's home often, and I thought she treated me quite well. I knew if the case was treated as a homicide, it would be huge. However, to avoid antagonism with Bogu Kailai, I shunned the case," Wang said.
"To be honest, if not for the involvement of Bogu Kailai, I would have ordered a thorough investigation and found out the truth earlier," he said.
Prosecutors said the evidence indicates that Wang knew that Bogu Kailai was under serious suspicion of committing intentional homicide, but deliberately covered up for her instead of holding her criminally responsible.
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