Gu Kailai trial: China braced for global attention

Wife of disgraced politician Bo Xilai will enter the dock to face charges of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/07/gu-kailai-trial-china-bo-xilai?newsfeed=true

China is braced for its highest profile trial in more than three decades when Gu Kailai, the wife of disgraced politician Bo Xilai, enters the dock to face charges of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood.

The last case to attract such global attention was the show trial of Mao Zedong's wife Jiang Qing, following the Cultural Revolution.

Then, as now, there is little doubt about the outcome: a guilty verdict. But the differences are more striking than the parallels. Jiang's trial was long, avowedly political and was broadcast on television. Gu's trial, which is due to begin on Thursday, is likely to last a day or less and authorities are keen to portray it as a standard criminal trial, dissociating the party from the lurid scandal as it prepares for a once-a-decade transfer of leadership this autumn.

The decision to hold it in Anhui province – far from the capital and from south-western Chongqing, scene of the alleged murder – underscores Beijing's keenness to reduce the glare of publicity.

"It is almost the opposite of a show trial: it's a trial of procedure, to tick certain boxes and show there is the rule of law in China," said Professor Rana Mitter, an expert on modern Chinese history and politics at the University of Oxford.

"It is an attempt to get this out of the way ... The flipside is the acute worry that if there is too much investigation and exposure of the background of what went on in court, other powerful leaders might in some way be pulled in."

At the heart of the storm is the untimely death of a 41-year-old man, who left a wife and two young children. Gu, 53, and family employee Zhang Xiaojun, 33, are accused of killing Heywood following a conflict over unspecified economic interests. Xinhua said she had feared for the safety of her son, Bo Guagua. The state-run Global Times newspaper earlier acknowledged that the case was "quite complicated" but insisted it would be fair.

The overwhelming majority of Chinese trials end in conviction and Xinhua has already said that the evidence against the defendants is "irrefutable and substantial". Heywood's mother Ann told the Los Angeles Times this week: "There are no human rights in China, of which I'm totally aware."

Hong Kong's South China Morning Post said an unnamed member of the prosecution team had told it that Gu had confessed to murder and economic crimes. "Gu told investigators everything she could remember and, as for those accusations about which she couldn't remember clearly, she asked the investigators to go ahead and write up anything they'd like to," the source said.

Pu Zhiqiang, a well-known human rights lawyer, said: "We hope [the trial] is fair. This case has been influenced by political factors, such as in the choice of court and lawyers. Gu's family could not choose the lawyer for her; the lawyer was assigned to Gu."

Li Xiaolin, a well-known Beijing lawyer hired by co-defendant Zhang's family, was also rejected. He said officials in Anhui told him that Zhang had accepted a government-appointed lawyer. Li said he planned to travel to Hefei anyway and hoped to attend the trial. He said his understanding was that Zhang, who has a wife and young child, had not known Heywood personally. "From this point, he did not have a motive to kill him, so he should not be the principal offender," he added.

The defence lawyers appear to have been appointed only recently and meetings with their clients would have been relatively short and monitored. Jerome Cohen, an expert on Chinese law, has pointed out that they are unlikely to see prosecution evidence before the trial or to be able to cross-examine witnesses, since statements are usually read into the record rather than evidence being given in person.

Rights lawyer Mo Shaoping said that unless lawyers request an extension, the verdict and sentence are due within a month and a half of the indictment – announced on 26 July, but apparently issued earlier.

The defendants will be allowed to have relatives in court and, unusually, two British diplomats have been given permission to attend in a consular capacity. Foreign media have already been told they have no hope of access.

An employee at the Hefei intermediate people's court said no places were available due to limited seating. "We will release the results to the public punctually," she added.

If convicted as expected, Gu and Zhang face punishment ranging from a lengthy prison term to the death penalty. Gu, a former lawyer, once compared the Chinese system favourably to the protracted legal processes in the US, writing: "As long as it is known that you, John Doe, killed someone, you will be arrested, tried and shot to death."

Many suspect that her family connections may have paved the way for a lesser punishment – most likely a suspended death sentence – due to diminished responsibility, or because a confession or the claim she saw Heywood as a threat to her son may be taken in mitigation. She is the daughter of a well-known revolutionary and her husband's high profile presents authorities with a dilemma.

Too severe a punishment may be seen as political retaliation against the family of a charismatic, popular former leader. Too lenient a penalty may be read as proof that the powerful can escape responsibility for their deeds. The defendants will have the right to appeal, but seem unlikely to do so.

"Since the sentence will be determined politically, amongst Beijing's highest leaders, it will not be subject to change," noted Cohen.