Bo Xilai launches an appeal
Jinan (AsiaNews) - A few hours after the ruling that sentenced him to life imprisonment, former Chongqing Communist Party Secretary Bo Xilai appealed his conviction. Known by some as the 'Red Star' of Chinese politics, he was found guilty of corruption and abuse of power by the Intermediate People's Court of Shandong. The province's High Court will now consider his appeal.
Bo fell out of favour last year due to a scandal, according to many orchestrated by his political opponents, which involved his right hand man and his wife. The latter was convicted for the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood. Immediately after the verdict, Bo yelled that the court decision was not fair and was not based on facts.
During the five-day trial, the former Politburo member rejected all the charges, blaming instead his "crazy" wife who had become the lover of his chief of police.
Millions of people followed the proceedings via Internet. The court in fact used Weibo, the popular Chinese micro blogging site, to broadcast live feeds. Conversely, TV cameras and reporters were banned from the courthouse.
Despite these limits, today state media commented on the ruling and the trial in glowing terms.
"Sentencing Bo Xilai in accordance with the law fully reflects that nobody can be exempted from party discipline and national law, and whoever breaches those must be thoroughly investigated and severely punished in accordance with the law," wrote People's Daily, the Communist party's official newspaper.
The China Daily praised the trial as "exemplary", saying that it showed "the political will of the central authorities to tackle corruption with an iron fist".
The paper noted that the use of weibo feeds to broadcast court proceedings was unprecedented on the mainland.
"Subjecting court proceedings to public scrutiny is a big step forward in the construction of rule of law," it stated.
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