Bo Xilai's wife charged with murder
Beijing (AsiaNews
/ Agencies) - The People's Court of Hefei has charged Kailai Gu, the wife of Bo
Xilai, the former head of the Communist Party in Chongqing, for the murder of
Neil Heywood, a British citizen and family advisor. The
court also accused the butler Zhang Xiaojun, of aiding and abetting in Heywood's
murder. According
to China's main news agency Xinhua, there
is substantial evidence against the two. Kailai
Gu and Xiaojun are believed to have poisoned the man to prevent revelations
about murky family affairs abroad, and threats against her son Bo Guagua.
The
announcement comes a week after the decision French architect Devillers
Patrick, close to the Bo family, to participate in the trial against the former
communist leader.
Suspicions
surrounding the murder of Neil Heywood emerged in February. In
March, the case of Bo Xilai broke, seriously undermining the Chinese Communist
Party. His
fall is one of the most spectacular political dramas in China since Tiananmen. Upon
until his removal, on
March 15, he was seen as a successful man, destined to join the Politburo
Standing Committee. His
populist campaign to revive Maoism distributing wealth to the poor was shared
by several fringes of the party, including several "princes" such as
Xi Jinping, the successor of President Hu Jintao. In
his attempt to "clean Chongqing" of mafia triads, he used illegal methods
and also arrested hundreds of party members.
The
façade of Maoist populism did not stop Bo and his family however from amassing
enormous wealth at home and abroad. According
to rumors, Heywoods' threat to reveal the proportions of this wealth, sealed his fate, hitherto
regarded as "an old family friend."
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