Parting shots as Bo Xilai exits stage
The five-day trial closes with the former Chongqing party boss launching a withering attack on Wang Lijun, his former police chief, his wife, Gu Kailai and the 'farcical game' the two played
On the relationship between Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, and his former top aide and police chief, Wang Lijun:
There are a few basic facts [to clarify]. First, I heard about this case [murder of Neil Heywood] for the first time on January 28th. I didn't believe Gu would kill someone. I have nothing to do with the November 15 [2011] murder and I am not an accomplice. Everyone agrees with this. In fact, before she was arrested in Beijing on March 14 [2012], Gu had been consistently and insistently telling me that she did not murder [Heywood] and it was a slanderous lie made up by Wang Lijun. I believed her.
Secondly, there are many factors behind the dismissal of Wang Lijun as the Chongqing police chief. To begin with, I truly believed he was smearing Gu Kailai. I [sacked him] not because I wanted to cover up the murder case. I just thought he was a shady character. He and Gu Kailai are as inseparable as paint and glue. Gu listened to his every word. Wang Lijun became involved in my family life through her. Now, when such a serious case happens, anyone with basic human dignity would have asked Gu Kailai first. Instead he came to talk to me.
Another reason to dismiss him was because he tried to blackmail me. He said on several occasions that his health condition was not good and he was under huge pressure because of the crackdown on organised crime, that he made a lot of enemies because of this. He was telling me this just to remind me of his contributions. Besides, Xu [no given name] complained to me about five or six mistakes that Wang had committed - all these are in the record. So there are several reasons behind his dismissal, not just because of Gu Kailai. That is just one of the reasons.
Thirdly, we can't simply say Wang Lijun was dismissed. In fact, he was transferred to a new job. In fact, all the [vice] mayors have different duties and responsibilities. He was already a vice-mayor in charge of trade and commerce, education and technology. Are these things not important?
Fourthly, he claimed the other day that 11 people working for him suddenly disappeared. In fact, I knew nothing about this and this could be proved by investigation. All these [arrests] were carried out by Wu [Wenkang] and ordered directly by Gu Kailai. I thought they had gone too far. Wang just exaggerated the whole thing. [Out of the 11 arrested], four were actually arrested by Wang Lijun. This can be confirmed in the written testimonies and it has nothing to do with me.