Bo to face trial

Trial of former Chongqing top official Bo Xilai will open in Jinan, Shandong province, on Thursday.

Bo Xilai, former Party chief of Chongqing, will stand trial at the Jinan Intermediate People’s Court on Thursday on charges of bribery, graft and abuse of power, the court said on Sunday.

The open trial will start at 8:30 am at its 5th courtroom, according to a court notice.

Bo took advantage of his position as a civil servant to seek gains for others, and accepted large amounts of money and property as bribes, according to the indictment of the Jinan People’s Procuratorate delivered to the court on July 25.

He also embezzled a large amount of public money and abused his power, the document said.

Bo had been informed of his legal rights, and his defense counsel had delivered its opinion, prosecutors said.

Bo, 64, had served as mayor of Dalian, governor of Liaoning province and the minister of commerce before being appointed Party chief of Chongqing in 2007.

The CPC Central Committee announced in April 2012 that it had decided to suspend Bo’s membership in the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau and the CPC Central Committee, as he was suspected of being involved in serious discipline violations. The CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection also filed the case for investigation.

In September last year, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee decided to expel Bo from the Party. The bureau also decided to transfer Bo’s suspected legal violations and related evidence to judicial organs.

In August 2012, Bo’s wife, Bogu Kailai, received a suspended death sentence at a court in Anhui province for intentional homicide.

She was convicted of murdering British citizen Neil Heywood by poisoning him in November 2011.