Bo Xilai sentenced for life in China's biggest political trial

He has been charged with bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power

Disgraced top Communist Party leader Bo Xilai was today sentenced to life for corruption and abuse of power by a Chinese court, which effectively ended a stiff challenge posed by pro-Maoist faction against the reform minded new leadership headed by President Xi Jinping.

Curtains came down on China's biggest political trial for decades when the Jinan Intermediate Court in east China's Shandong province convicted the 64-year-old former Politburo member and Chongqing city Communist Party chief on all the three charges of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power.

In its judgement delivered at a packed room, the court sentenced a defiant Bo to life in prison on the graft charges, 15 years for embezzlement and seven years for abuse of power.

"Bo Xilai was a servant of the state, he abused his power, causing huge damage to the country and its people ... The circumstances were especially serious," the court said in its judgement as a defiant Bo smiled.

A charismatic Bo, widely expected to be front runner for a top post in the once-in-a-decade leadership change of the ruling Communist Party last year, was sacked as the head of Chongqing city and removed from the party following charges of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power against him.

The court, which last month conducted an unprecedented "open trial" with periodic updates on microblogs for five days, also stripped the fallen politician of all political rights and ordered the confiscation of his properties.

After the sentencing, Bo was seen handcuffed, with clenched fists and flanked by two towering policemen who held him by his shoulders and forearms as he was escorted out.

Bo was convicted for bribes totalling 20.44 million yuan (about USD 3.3 million) when he was the head of Dalian city, where he carried out a vigorous modernisation drive making it one of the most high-profile port cities in the world.

The fallen politician took advantage of his position as head of Dalian party unit, Governor of northeastern Liaoning Province and commerce minister of China to seek benefits for others, the verdict said.

Bo, who vehemently denied all charges, would file an appeal against the judgement to a higher court in Shandong province whose verdict would be final, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post said.

The hearing was regarded as the Communist China's most sensitive political trial after the 1981 'Gang of Four' trial involving Mao Zedong's widow Jing Qing.