CHENGDU, China — The Chinese police chief whose thwarted defection exposed high-level murder and set off political infighting was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday, setting the stage for China’s leadership to close out the seamy scandal and move ahead with a generational handover of power.
Amid heavy security, the Intermediate People’s Court in the central city of Chengdu sentenced Wang after convicting him of defecting, abuse of power, taking bribes and other crimes to which he confessed at his trial last week. Wang told the court he will not appeal, said his lawyer.
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The sentence is lighter than the 20-year prison term suggested in sentencing guidelines. The court noted Wang’s cooperation in exposing the crimes of others, especially the central element in the scandal — the murder of a British businessman by the wife of Wang’s former boss, once political high-flier Bo Xilai.
“In accordance with that, and based on the facts, nature, circumstances and the degree of harm caused to society by the crimes committed by Wang Lijun, as well as his admission of guilt and repentance, the court has made the above verdict in accordance with the law,” court spokesman Yang Yuquan told reporters afterward.
The scandal has been the messiest, most public one Communist Party leaders have had to confront in decades, triggering bruising internal jostling as the leadership prepares to transfer power to a younger generation. In the scandal’s wake, Bo was removed from the leadership, his wife confessed to the murder and relations among the leaders were strained. As a result, arrangements for a party congress to install the new leadership this fall were complicated.
After Wang’s sentencing, the leadership is expected to announce long overdue dates for the congress and dispose of the scandal’s stickiest issue — whether merely to expel Bo from the party or hand him over for criminal prosecution. Pronouncing judgment on Bo will allow the new leaders to take charge without the scandal’s overhang.
Wang’s trial and conviction mark the spectacular downfall of a publicity-grabbing police official who rose to nationwide fame by leading a high-profile but law-bending crusade against organized crime in the inland city of Chongqing until he was cast out by Bo, the city’s party chief. According to an official account of his trial, Wang had grown close to Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, and after she confessed to murdering Briton Neil Heywood, Wang covered it up until his estrangement from her, and later Bo, drove him to flee to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu, fearing for his life.
“When mafia members break up with their bosses, they can attempt to seek police protection. But in Chongqing and for the former police boss, there was nowhere to turn,” prominent editor Hu Shuli wrote in a commentary posted on the website of her magazine, Caixin. “And this perhaps encapsulates one of the greatest embarrassments of the country’s current legal system.”
The official account of Wang’s trial, carried by Xinhua, portrays Wang as unbound by the law. It says he ordered surveillance of people without authorization and took bribes from businessmen connected to Bo in exchange for releasing suspects from police detention.
Amid heavy security, the Intermediate People’s Court in the central city of Chengdu sentenced Wang after convicting him of defecting, abuse of power, taking bribes and other crimes to which he confessed at his trial last week. Wang told the court he will not appeal, said his lawyer.
Here is a look at some of the week’s best photographs from around the globe.
More World News
William Booth In Turkey, worry that the frontier with Syria is too porous and too wild.
Ernesto Londoño Lt. Col. Christopher K. Raible faced two choices: seek cover or run toward the sound of gunfire
Chico Harlan Those who knew Pak Jong Suk say her story exposes the North’s willingness to manipulate a mother who feared for her son’s safety.
The sentence is lighter than the 20-year prison term suggested in sentencing guidelines. The court noted Wang’s cooperation in exposing the crimes of others, especially the central element in the scandal — the murder of a British businessman by the wife of Wang’s former boss, once political high-flier Bo Xilai.
“In accordance with that, and based on the facts, nature, circumstances and the degree of harm caused to society by the crimes committed by Wang Lijun, as well as his admission of guilt and repentance, the court has made the above verdict in accordance with the law,” court spokesman Yang Yuquan told reporters afterward.
The scandal has been the messiest, most public one Communist Party leaders have had to confront in decades, triggering bruising internal jostling as the leadership prepares to transfer power to a younger generation. In the scandal’s wake, Bo was removed from the leadership, his wife confessed to the murder and relations among the leaders were strained. As a result, arrangements for a party congress to install the new leadership this fall were complicated.
After Wang’s sentencing, the leadership is expected to announce long overdue dates for the congress and dispose of the scandal’s stickiest issue — whether merely to expel Bo from the party or hand him over for criminal prosecution. Pronouncing judgment on Bo will allow the new leaders to take charge without the scandal’s overhang.
Wang’s trial and conviction mark the spectacular downfall of a publicity-grabbing police official who rose to nationwide fame by leading a high-profile but law-bending crusade against organized crime in the inland city of Chongqing until he was cast out by Bo, the city’s party chief. According to an official account of his trial, Wang had grown close to Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, and after she confessed to murdering Briton Neil Heywood, Wang covered it up until his estrangement from her, and later Bo, drove him to flee to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu, fearing for his life.
“When mafia members break up with their bosses, they can attempt to seek police protection. But in Chongqing and for the former police boss, there was nowhere to turn,” prominent editor Hu Shuli wrote in a commentary posted on the website of her magazine, Caixin. “And this perhaps encapsulates one of the greatest embarrassments of the country’s current legal system.”
The official account of Wang’s trial, carried by Xinhua, portrays Wang as unbound by the law. It says he ordered surveillance of people without authorization and took bribes from businessmen connected to Bo in exchange for releasing suspects from police detention.