Bo's trial ends, verdict to be announced
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E-mail Xinhua, August 26, 2013
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Photo taken on Aug. 26, 2013 shows the court trial of Bo Xilai at Jinan Intermediate People's Court in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province.[Xinhua] |
PROPER DEFENSE
Li Guifang and Wang Zhaofeng of the Beijing-based DeHeng Law Offices represented Bo at the trial.
As far as they know, Bo's family hired several lawyers during the investigation stage of the case and Bo himself chose them as his defense attorneys, the two lawyers told Xinhua after the trial.
They paid Bo more than 20 visits before and during the trial.
The lawyers had read all case files, copied relevant evidence and fully exchanged views on defense strategies with Bo during the visits, Li said.
"In court, we defended Bo based on facts and laws. We safeguarded his litigation rights and other lawful rights and interests," Li said.
The defense focused on the three charges and litigation procedures, especially facts the defense considered ambiguous and evidence that they thought not solid, he said.
"The court followed the principle of equality between prosecution and defense," Li said, adding that the court honored and respected the defendant's right to defend and to express himself, as well as the defense lawyers' right to question, examine and debate.
"For a lawyer, defending a high-ranking official and an ordinary citizen is essentially the same," he said.
"In both cases we defend the defendant's lawful rights and interests on a factual and legal basis so as to ensure proper implementation of laws and safeguard social justice," he said.
Sources told Xinhua that investigators in charge of the case looked into a total of 97 individuals with connection to or information about the case and got a lot of evidence. They also informed Bo of the right to hire lawyers.
During the case review and prosecution stage, prosecutors interrogated the defendant, not only trying to get the confession but also verify his reasonable explanations.
They also informed the defendant of his litigation rights and assigned people to assist defense lawyers when they wanted to access case files.
PROCEEDING DETAILS
Jinan People's Procuratorate instituted a public prosecution against Bo on July 25 with the three charges of bribe-taking, embezzlement and abuse of power.
Assigned by the Supreme People's Court, the Jinan court formed a collegial panel and delivered a copy of the indictment to the defendant in time.
On Aug. 14, the collegial panel convened a pretrial conference attended by the defendant, his lawyers and the prosecutors, in which they discussed the evidence, witnesses and other judicial procedures for the trial.
On Aug. 18, the court announced the date and location of the trial and delivered a summons as well as notice of appearance to the defendant and his lawyers.
Bo's trial began on Thursday.
According to the indictment read by prosecutor Yang Zengsheng, Bo faces charges of bribe taking, embezzlement and abuse of power. The defendant gave a statement on the facts regarding his alleged offenses. Prosecutors and defense lawyers questioned the accused respectively.
The court investigation focused on Bo's three charges.
During the trial, key witnesses Xu Ming, chairman of Dalian Shide Group Co. Ltd., Wang Zhenggang, then director of the Dalian municipal bureau of urban and rural planning and land, and Wang Lijun, former vice mayor of Chongqing, appeared to testify in court.
Prosecutors, the defendant and his lawyers cross-examined the witnesses.
Prosecutors also read testimonies by other witnesses including Zhang Xiaojun and Patrick Devillers, a French national, played video recordings from Bo's wife Bogu Kailai and Tang Xiaolin, general manager of Dalian International Development Co. Ltd., as well as a slideshow of a villa involved in the case.
In addition, prosecutors presented evidence including documents and photographs of material evidence, and confessions and the handwritten confessions of the defendant.
The prosecutors also presented evidence on how Bo's case was exposed and investigated and that he did not turn himself in, confess his crimes or inform against others.
During the trial, the defendant and his lawyers questioned the witnesses and expressed their views on relevant evidence.
Facing key facts of the charges, Bo frequently defended himself by saying the evidence was "irrelevant" or he had only a vague impression.
Bo did not acknowledge the accusations, but he failed to offer evidence to refute the facts regarding his charges during his defense.
The defense lawyers also questioned the authenticity and legality of witness testimony.
In response, prosecutors said the evidence presented in court was authentic and taken legally from clear sources and the evidence of the entire case was enough to identify the defendant's conduct as crime.
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