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Bo Xilai scandal: Gu Kailai jailed over Heywood murder | |
(36 minutes later) | |
The wife of disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai has been given a suspended death sentence for the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood. | |
Gu Kailai did not contest charges at her one-day trial earlier that she poisoned Mr Heywood in November 2011. | |
Suspended death sentences are usually commuted to life imprisonment in China. | |
Mr Bo, the former party chief in Chongqing, was once seen as a contender for a national leadership position in a top-level reshuffle later this year. | |
But he has not been seen in public since the investigation into Gu was announced. | |
The BBC's Damian Grammaticas, outside the court in Hefei, says Gu is expected to serve at least 14 years in prison. | |
Gu's aide, Zhang Xiaojun, was jailed for nine years for his part in the murder. | |
'Huge stone' | |
The verdict in China's most high-profile trial for years came early on Monday, inside a court ringed by security personnel. | |
Chinese state media has reported that during the trial - which was not open to all - Gu admitted she poisoned Neil Heywood in a hotel room in Chongqing. | |
She said she had suffered a mental breakdown and that Mr Heywood had threatened her son amid a row over a property deal, state media said. | |
"This case has been like a huge stone weighing on me for more than half a year. What a nightmare," she was quoted as saying. | |
Two British diplomats were allowed to attend the trial but foreign journalists were not present. | |
At a separate trial a day later, four senior police officers admitted charges of covering up evidence linking Ms Gu to the murder, a court official said. | |
The case came to light when Bo Xilai's deputy, police chief Wang Lijun, fled to the US consulate in February, reportedly with information connected to the case. | |
He too has not been seen in public since February and state media says he is being investigated. | |
It is not yet know how the Communist Party plans to deal with Mr Bo. | |
Many analysts expected him to be promoted to the nine-strong politburo Standing Committee later in the year. | |
Seven committee members are due to retire soon, with a new generation of leaders due to take their place at a party congress due later this year. | |
But Mr Bo has been stripped of his official posts and is being investigated for "discipline violations", state media reports say. | |
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