중국 법원이 22일 뇌물수수, 공금횡령, 직권남용 등의 혐의로 기소된 보시라이(薄熙來) 전 충칭시 서기에게 무기징역을 선고했다.

중국 지난(濟南)중급인민법원은 이날 보시라이 1심 선고재판을 열어 그가 뇌물 수수, 공금횡령, 직권남용 등의 범죄를 저질렀다는 점이 인정된다며 무기징역, 정치 권리 종신 박탈, 개인재산 몰수 등 '중벌'을 선고했다.

법원은 또 보시라이가 뇌물로 받은 2천44만 위안과 공금횡령으로 축재한 500만 위안을 환수토록 했다.

이 같은 판결은 애초 예상됐던 15년 정도의 징역형에 비해 크게 무거운 것으로, 이는 법원이 검찰의 기소내용을 대부분 인정한데다 보시라이가 재판에서 검찰의 주장을 반박하고 무죄를 주장하는 등 '괘씸죄'를 저지른 것이 영향을 미친 것으로 보 인다.

법원은 판결문을 통해 보시라이가 다롄국제발전공사 총경리 탕샤오린(唐肖林)과 다롄스더그룹 이사장 쉬밍(徐明)으로부터 2천44만여 위안의 금품을 받은 것은 사실로 인정된다고 밝혔다.

법원은 또 보시라이의 행위가 왕리쥔(王立君) 전 충칭시 공안국장의 미국 총영 사관 도피의 주요원인으로 작용했으며 국가와 국민의 이익에 중대한 손실을 불러왔다는 점도 인정했다.

법원은 아울러 구카이라이(谷開來) 증언에 대해 증거능력이 의심된다는 보시라 이측의 이의제기도 기각했다.

검찰은 지난 8월 재판에서 보시라이가 뇌물수수, 공금횡령, 직권남용 등의 범죄를 저질렀으면서도 재판과정에서 죄를 인정하지 않고 사실을 감추는 등 불성실한 태 도를 보였다며 엄벌에 처해야 한다고 주장했다.

이날 선고심은 판결문 낭독을 끝으로 폐정했으며 보시라이는 판결문이 낭독되는 동안 미소를 띤 채 경청했다고 CCTV가 보도했다.

패정후 경찰은 보시라이에게 수갑을 채우고 법정 밖으로 끌고 갔다.

중국 당국은 '중죄' 선고에 따른 보시라이 지지자들의 반발을 우려, 재판이 진행되는 동안 지난중급인민법원으로 향하는 도로를 차단하기도 했다.

앞서 홍콩 영자지 사우스차이나모닝포스트(SCMP)는 18일 소식통을 인용, 보시라 이가 유죄판결을 받을 경우 항소할 가능성이 크다고 보도했다.

만일 그가 항소할 경우, 보시라이 사건은 계속 주요 현안으로 남으면서 중국정치에 영향을 미칠 것으로 예상된다.

<관련 영문 기사>

Bo Xilai sentenced to life in prison: court

Fallen Chinese political star Bo Xilai was sentenced by a court to life in prison Sunday, following a sensational scandal that culminated in the country's highest-profile trial in decades.

The sentence was announced by the Jinan Intermediate People's Court on its verified page on Sina Weibo, a Chinese equivalent of Twitter.

Bo, one of China's top 25 politicians before his dramatic downfall, was convicted of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power.

"The court sentences Bo Xilai to life imprisonment for taking bribes, deprives him of his political rights for life and confiscates all his property," it said in a statement.

The court convicted Bo of taking 20.4 million yuan ($3.3 million) in bribes.

It also said it gave Bo 15 years in prison for embezzlement and seven years for abuse of power.

A photo posted by the court showed a hand-cuffed Bo, dressed in an open-collared white shirt, black trousers and black athletic shoes, in the court surrounded by four uniformed police officers.

At a press conference, court spokesman Liu Yanjie said that Bo did not indicate in court whether or not he would appeal.

The catalyst for Bo's fall came when his top aide in mega-city Chongqing, where he was party chief, fled to a US consulate with evidence the politician's wife had murdered a British associate in February 2012.

With factions in the upper echelons of the Communist Party reportedly split over how to handle him, a year and a half passed before he went to trial, becoming the most high-profile official to do so in decades.

In last month's gripping five-day hearing he mounted a fierce defence against claims that he corruptly obtained money and abused his political position to cover up the killing committed by his wife.

The bribery charges had made the 64-year-old Bo eligible for the death penalty, though analysts had seen that possibility as remote.

Joseph Cheng, a China politics expert at City University of Hong Kong, said that Bo's active contestation of the charges during his trial was a factor in the harsh sentence.

"A defiant attitude and refusing to admit one's guilt is considered bad behaviour and attracts a heavier sentence," Cheng told AFP.

"Bo Xilai would certainly like to retain a chance of a political comeback, and a heavier sentence from the state certainly indicates a rejection of any chance of giving him a political comeback," he added.

"This deprivation of political rights for life is an implicit answer to that kind of demand."

The proceedings took place amid stepped up security outside the court, with dozens of police surrounding the building in Jinan, capital of eastern China's Shandong province.

Dozens of police, some uniformed and others in plain clothes surrounded the court on Sunday. Barricades and barriers were erected more than 50 metres away from the court to prevent people from approaching.

A select group of media was allowed into a penned off area in front of the courthouse, where they clamoured to take photos of vehicles entering the court.

Though edited transcripts from the trial were posted online, China's government has tightly controlled information about Bo's case, and police erected barriers to stop pedestrians from entering areas around the court.

Passers-by hurried towards a shopping centre, showing little interest in the proceedings.

"Ordinary people don't know much about these political matters," a 22-year-old motorcycle driver surnamed Guo said Saturday, as he sheltered from rain outside a noodle restaurant. "Top officials are very distant from our everyday lives."

Bo poured billions into public works and social housing programmes while party chief of the southwestern megacity of Chongqing, where he launched a high-profile anti-crime campaign that won him admirers across China.

Despite his popularity, reports of forced confessions and torture during the crime crackdown horrified Chinese liberals, while some top party leaders saw his ambition as challenging the party's cherished unity.

The verdict comes as China's new leadership under President Xi Jinping attempts to show it is cracking down on corruption, which he has said threatens the existence of the Communist Party.

But locals in Jinan expressed a widely held belief that trials of top officials are the outcome of political infighting, rather than purely legal proceedings.

"Bo is the kind of leader ordinary Chinese respect, he did a good job in Chongqing" said Lu Mingcai, a 63-year-old retired chauffeur.

"His mistake is a political one. It's got nothing to do with whether he was corrupt or not," Lu said, adding: "Bo will go to prison for sure."

Liu Qing, a middle-aged market stall owner said: "(Bo) has been sacrificed in a political struggle. I don't know if he was corrupt. What government official isn't corrupt these days?"

Despite the life sentence, Bo might not spend all his remaining days in prison. In the past, senior Chinese politicians given prison terms have reportedly been released on medical parole and held under strict security at their family homes. (AFP)