Gu Kilai to face trial on 9 August
03 Aug 2012
Gu Kailai, wife of Chinese politician Bo Xilai, would face trial for death of British businessman Neil Heywood next Thursday, according to lawyers.
Prosecutors announced last week that Gu and Zhang Xiaojun, employed at Bo's home, would face charges of intentional homicide.
The businessman was found dead in a hotel in Chongqing on 15 November 2011, setting the stage for the downfall of Bo, in a scandal that has rocked the country's politics.
The trial would be conducted in the eastern city of Hefei, even though the crime allegedly took place in Chongqing, a city hundreds of miles to the west.
Legal experts had previously told BBC Chinese that authorities would have had concerns about the political influence that Bo and his family might still exert in Chongqing and whether that would affect a fair trial.
Though local authorities had initially said Heywood had died of excessive drinking, the government announced in April it was investigating Bo's wife in connection with the case.
Meanwhile, there has been much speculation both inside and outside China over the exact nature of Heywood's role as also his relations with the Bo family.
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