JOIN USThe trial of disgraced Chinese leader Bo Xilai’s wife Gu Kailai, who was charged with the murder of a British businessman, would test the credibility of Chinese judicial system, state-run media said on Friday.
Gu and Zhang Xiaojun, her domestic help were formally charged with homicide by the Hefei Municipal Procuratorate in Anhui Province on Thursday. As Gu is the wife of Bo, a dismissed member of the political bureau, the case has drawn widespread attention, the trial held according to law will strengthen the Chinese people’s confidence in the country’s legal system, Global Times daily said in an editorial.
“The special background of Gu Kailai and the relationship between her case and the Bo Xilai case can easily trigger speculation in society nowadays. The social psychological and opinion sphere is quite complicated, and will linger throughout the trial,” it said.
“The law should be the sole principle followed by the trial. No matter what impact the ruling will have, judges must be loyal to the law.
This is a test of their commitment to the rule of law. Both trial and final verdict should reflect their consciences,” it said.
“The trial will also test whether the principle that everybody is equal before the law truly stands,” it said and urged people to see it as a criminal case.