HEFEI, China—The Western-educated son of ousted Communist Party official Bo Xilai spoke out ahead of his mother’s murder trial, saying he had submitted a witness statement to her defense team.
The younger Mr. Bo said in an email to CNN that he submitted his testimony after he was mentioned as a “motivating factor” for the alleged murder of Neil Heywood, a British business consultant, by his mother, Gu Kailai.
But the son, Bo Guagua, who friends in recent weeks have said is living in the U.S., gave no details of his testimony as Chinese authorities made final preparations for what many observers see as the most politically significant trial in China in more than three decades.
Security around the Intermediate People’s Court in the eastern city of Hefei was relatively relaxed on Wednesday as dozens of reporters gathered on its front steps, but court officials haven’t said if reporters will be allowed into the courtroom for the trial, which is set to begin Thursday.
In a separate email to The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Bo Guagua confirmed that he had given a statement to CNN, but didn’t respond to further questions about the trial, which is expected to last only one or two days, legal experts say, and to result in a guilty verdict.
They were his first public comments since official Chinese media said last month that Ms. Gu was accused of poisoning Mr. Heywood in the belief that he threatened her son’s personal safety following a “conflict of economic interests.”
The official media reports have given no details of the alleged economic dispute or the alleged threat to Mr. Bo’s safety, but further details are expected to emerge during the trial, which are expected to be attended by two British diplomats.
“As I was cited as a motivating factor for the crimes accused of my mother, I have already submitted my witness statement,” CNN Wednesday quoted Bo Guagua as saying in his email to the network. “I hope that my mother will have the opportunity to review them.”
He added: “I have faith that facts will speak for themselves.”
Analysts say Mr. Bo’s testimony is unlikely to affect the verdict of a trial that has drawn comparisons with that of Jiang Qing, Chairman Mao Zedong’s widow, who was among those convicted in 1981 of masterminding the chaos of the Cultural Revolution.
Ms. Gu is almost certain to be found guilty, according to lawyers and legal experts, given a conviction rate of about 98% in China, where the party controls the police, prosecutors and judges.
But she could face a suspended death sentence, rather than capital punishment, based on the suggestion that she acted in her son’s defense, legal experts say. They say her sentence could also be mitigated by a history of depression, which several friends have cited.
The evidence presented in court could also give an indication of how the party leadership plans to handle the elder Mr. Bo, who was party chief of Chongqing—the top position in one of China’s largest cities—when Mr. Heywood was found dead in his hotel room there in November.
Chinese authorities said in April that Bo Xilai was dismissed from his party posts and placed under investigation for unspecified “serious disciplinary violations,” but they have yet to announce whether he, too, will face criminal charges. Party insiders say Mr. Bo is being held by an internal party watchdog.
The younger Mr. Bo, who graduated from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in May, didn’t say when, where or how he had submitted his witness statement.
But friends have said in recent weeks that he has stayed in the U.S. partly due to fears that he too could face detention, or at least questioning, if he were to return to China in the midst of the scandal.
Bo Guagua, who previously studied at Harrow, an exclusive British private school, and the University of Oxford, hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing.
But his role in the saga has been a matter of keen public interest in China as he is the most prominent young member of a group known collectively as “princelings” because of the privileges they enjoy as the descendants of Communist Party leaders.
He earned a controversial reputation in China a few years ago after photographs began circulating online of him attending parties while at Oxford. Questions were also raised among Chinese Internet users over how his family could afford such a prestigious Western education given his father’s relatively low official salary.
Since Mr. Heywood’s death became public, there has been intense public scrutiny of his family’s relationship with the Briton, whom they got to know in the 1990s when he was living in the northeastern city of Dalian, where Mr. Bo was mayor at the time.
Several friends of Mr. Heywood—who also attended Harrow—have said that he helped to organize Bo Guagua’s education in Britain. The announcement of Ms. Gu’s indictment said that both she and her son were involved in the alleged “conflict of economic interests” with Mr. Heywood.
In April, the younger Mr. Bo issued a statement to the Harvard Crimson newspaper where he said he was “deeply concerned about the events surrounding my family.” He also defended his academic record and said his education was largely funded by his mother’s earnings as a lawyer and writer.
But he hasn’t commented on his links to Mr. Heywood.
Write to Jeremy Page at [email protected] and Brian Spegele at [email protected]
The younger Mr. Bo said in an email to CNN that he submitted his testimony after he was mentioned as a “motivating factor” for the alleged murder of Neil Heywood, a British business consultant, by his mother, Gu Kailai.
But the son, Bo Guagua, who friends in recent weeks have said is living in the U.S., gave no details of his testimony as Chinese authorities made final preparations for what many observers see as the most politically significant trial in China in more than three decades.
Security around the Intermediate People’s Court in the eastern city of Hefei was relatively relaxed on Wednesday as dozens of reporters gathered on its front steps, but court officials haven’t said if reporters will be allowed into the courtroom for the trial, which is set to begin Thursday.
In a separate email to The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Bo Guagua confirmed that he had given a statement to CNN, but didn’t respond to further questions about the trial, which is expected to last only one or two days, legal experts say, and to result in a guilty verdict.
They were his first public comments since official Chinese media said last month that Ms. Gu was accused of poisoning Mr. Heywood in the belief that he threatened her son’s personal safety following a “conflict of economic interests.”
The official media reports have given no details of the alleged economic dispute or the alleged threat to Mr. Bo’s safety, but further details are expected to emerge during the trial, which are expected to be attended by two British diplomats.
“As I was cited as a motivating factor for the crimes accused of my mother, I have already submitted my witness statement,” CNN Wednesday quoted Bo Guagua as saying in his email to the network. “I hope that my mother will have the opportunity to review them.”
He added: “I have faith that facts will speak for themselves.”
Analysts say Mr. Bo’s testimony is unlikely to affect the verdict of a trial that has drawn comparisons with that of Jiang Qing, Chairman Mao Zedong’s widow, who was among those convicted in 1981 of masterminding the chaos of the Cultural Revolution.
Ms. Gu is almost certain to be found guilty, according to lawyers and legal experts, given a conviction rate of about 98% in China, where the party controls the police, prosecutors and judges.
But she could face a suspended death sentence, rather than capital punishment, based on the suggestion that she acted in her son’s defense, legal experts say. They say her sentence could also be mitigated by a history of depression, which several friends have cited.
The evidence presented in court could also give an indication of how the party leadership plans to handle the elder Mr. Bo, who was party chief of Chongqing—the top position in one of China’s largest cities—when Mr. Heywood was found dead in his hotel room there in November.
Chinese authorities said in April that Bo Xilai was dismissed from his party posts and placed under investigation for unspecified “serious disciplinary violations,” but they have yet to announce whether he, too, will face criminal charges. Party insiders say Mr. Bo is being held by an internal party watchdog.
The younger Mr. Bo, who graduated from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in May, didn’t say when, where or how he had submitted his witness statement.
But friends have said in recent weeks that he has stayed in the U.S. partly due to fears that he too could face detention, or at least questioning, if he were to return to China in the midst of the scandal.
Bo Guagua, who previously studied at Harrow, an exclusive British private school, and the University of Oxford, hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing.
But his role in the saga has been a matter of keen public interest in China as he is the most prominent young member of a group known collectively as “princelings” because of the privileges they enjoy as the descendants of Communist Party leaders.
He earned a controversial reputation in China a few years ago after photographs began circulating online of him attending parties while at Oxford. Questions were also raised among Chinese Internet users over how his family could afford such a prestigious Western education given his father’s relatively low official salary.
Since Mr. Heywood’s death became public, there has been intense public scrutiny of his family’s relationship with the Briton, whom they got to know in the 1990s when he was living in the northeastern city of Dalian, where Mr. Bo was mayor at the time.
Several friends of Mr. Heywood—who also attended Harrow—have said that he helped to organize Bo Guagua’s education in Britain. The announcement of Ms. Gu’s indictment said that both she and her son were involved in the alleged “conflict of economic interests” with Mr. Heywood.
In April, the younger Mr. Bo issued a statement to the Harvard Crimson newspaper where he said he was “deeply concerned about the events surrounding my family.” He also defended his academic record and said his education was largely funded by his mother’s earnings as a lawyer and writer.
But he hasn’t commented on his links to Mr. Heywood.
Write to Jeremy Page at [email protected] and Brian Spegele at [email protected]