Bo Xilai, once tipped for the highest levels of authority in China’s government, is jailed for life for a range of corruption charges.
The former member of the Chinese Communist Party’s politburo completed his plunge from political zenith to nadir with the sentence for bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power on Saturday.
Bo, as Chongqing city leader, was once tipped as a future member of the Communist Party’s standing committee of the politburo, the elite inner circle that governs China.
However, his political career began crumbling in February 2012 when his former top aide attempted to defect to a US consulate.
The aide said he had information about the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood, at the hands of Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai.
Prosecutors later accused Bo of interfering with the probe into the murder, as well as unrelated corruption uncovered by investigators.
Gu confessed to the murder and was handed a suspended death sentence last year that will likely be commuted to life imprisonment.
All this took place in the run up to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China – the once-in-a-decade change to China’s leadership.
At the time Bo was a popular politician in China, and especially in the city of Chongqing – where he had campaigned against organised crime, built affordable housing, and promoted Maoist songs and mass gatherings.
It has been argued that his popularity was seen as a challenge to China’s now president Xi Jinping, who was being guided into power.
Bo’s trial has been held in semi-public. He was accused of accepting $3.5m in bribes and of embezzling $160,000 from a secret government project in the northern city of Dalian. His defence that he did not know about the bribes was not accepted by the court.
He was given a life sentence by the court for the bribery charges, 15 years for embezzlement and seven years for abuse of power.
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Dressed in a white shirt and slacks, Bo listened to the verdict with a resigned smile on his face before being led out of the court.
The Jinan Intermediate People’s Court also deprived Bo of political rights for life and confiscated all his personal assets.
Although Bo could appeal the verdict, he is widely expected to have little chance of success.