BEIJING — Bo Xilai, the pugnacious Chinese politician whose downfall shook the Communist Party, was sentenced to life in prison Sunday after a court found him guilty of bribetaking, embezzlement, and abuse of power in a failed attempt to stifle murder allegations against his wife.
The sentence means Bo, the son of a Communist revolutionary leader, is unlikely to ever return to public life, unless there is an extraordinary reversal in his political fortunes.
Given the Communist Party’s tight control of the judiciary, there was never much doubt that the Jinan Intermediate People’s Court in eastern China would find Bo guilty. Even before the verdict, commentaries in state-run news media declared that Bo’s guilt was clear.
Yet until the end, Bo remained defiant, pleading not guilty and contesting nearly every aspect of the prosecutors’ case during his trial in August. Family associates have said Bo would probably appeal his sentence.
Party leaders under President Xi Jinping had hoped that prosecuting Bo, once an ambitious member of the elite Politburo, would demonstrate the party’s determination to tame the rampant official corruption that has stoked public ire, posing a potential threat to their hold on power.
The government orchestrated an unusually public and lengthy trial for Bo lasting five days, and a court microblog gave the public selective but plentiful and salacious details of the proceedings, which included allegations of adultery by both Bo and his wife, Gu Kailai.
But the courtroom drama also let the public peer into a privileged world of dizzying wealth and nonchalant excess.
Prosecutors described a casual rapport between Bo’s family and a businessman, Xu Ming, who paid for the travel and extravagant purchases of Bo’s wife and younger son, including a $3.2 million villa in France, a $12,000 Segway, and a flight aboard a private jet to Tanzania. During the trial, the prosecution said Bo had taken $4.4 million in bribes and embezzled money. Bo countered that he had been unaware of the gifts and payments.
The court gave Bo a small victory. Although it found him culpable for taking bribes worth $3.2 million, it said there was insufficient evidence concerning the air travel, which it said was worth about $218,000.
But many Chinese citizens believe that that lavish lifestyle is typical for families of senior officials, not the depraved aberration presented in state-run news media. And Bo’s supporters, who have remained vocal despite censorship, have argued that he is the victim of a political vendetta aimed at thwarting his populist ambitions.