China upholds Bo Xilai's life sentence

China has reportedly upheld the life sentence of former politician Bo Xilai over charges of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power.

The Shandong high court had accepted his appeal earlier this month, however, it has declared today that it has rejected the appeal and upheld the sentence.

Bo was removed from office in 2012 amid a scandal which saw his wife, Gu Kailai, convicted of a British businessman Neil Heywood's murder.

The former Chongqing party secretary was found guilty of graft, receiving bribes, and abuse of power by the Jinan People's Intermediate Court and was sentenced to life in jail on September 22.

According to the BBC, Bo could submit a complaint to the Supreme People's Court in Beijing, but the vast majority of such complaints are rejected and do not result in another trial.

Bo was found guilty of taking bribes amounting to 3.3million dollars either personally or through his family apart from abusing his office by using his position to cover up for his wife's crime.

Meanwhile, the former leader's supporters believe that he is the victim of a political purge, the report added.