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Bo Xilai Trial: Witness Testifies On Embezzlement
BBC NEWS, CHINA
August 24, 2013: The trial of former top Chinese politician Bo Xilai has entered its third day. Mr Bo is expected to cross-examine a witness who testified that he embezzled funds from a government project in Dalian, the city where he was mayor.
The court in the eastern city of Jinan has been posting regular updates on China's micro-blogging site Weibo.
Mr Bo, who used to be the Communist Party chief in Chongqing, denies bribery, corruption and abuse of power.
A BBC correspondent says that despite the eloquence of his defense, Mr Bo is expected to be found guilty on charges of corruption and abuse of office. Mr Bo's family was one of the most elite in China and correspondents say the scandals involving him have captivated the country.
As trial resumed on Saturday, Wang Zhenggang, former urban planning director of Dalian, continued to give testimony on the charge of embezzlement against Mr Bo, Xinhua news agency reported.
Mr Bo is accused of receiving bribes totaling 21.8m yuan ($3.56m; £2.28m) from businessmen Tang Xiaolin and Xu Ming and embezzling 5m yuan ($800,000; £524,000) in public funds from the Dalian government.
Foreign media banned
On the second day of the trial, Mr Bo dismissed testimony from his wife, Gu Kailai, that implicated him in corruption. He claimed she was insane. She had said that wealthy Chinese entrepreneur Xu Ming bought gifts for the family in order to gain favours. Gu Kailai was herself convicted last year of the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood.
Video footage and written testimony from Mr Bo's wife was posted on the court's official microblog. In it Gu Kailai said she felt Neil Heywood had posed a threat to her son, Bo Guagua.
But Mr Bo dismissed her testimony, reportedly saying: "In her unstable mental state, prosecutors put pressure on her so she would turn on me."
Foreign media are not allowed into the trial which is taking place in the city of Jinan in Shandong province.
Mr Bo's downfall was seen as the biggest political shake-up to hit China's ruling elite in decades. In February 2012 his police chief, Wang Lijun, fled to the US consulate in Chengdu amid an apparent fall-out with Mr Bo.
Shortly afterwards, Chinese authorities announced that they were reinvestigating the death of Mr Heywood, who died in a Chongqing hotel in November 2011. Gu Kailai has since been jailed for the murder of Mr Heywood - a crime she carried out, state media say, because of differences over a business deal.
