Heywood family lawyer comments ahead of Gu Kailai's death sentence

(20 Aug 2012) The wife of a fallen Chinese politician has been given a suspended death sentence after confessing to killing a British businessman in a case that has rocked the country's political leadership. A suspended sentence is usually commuted to life in prison after several years. He Zhengsheng, a lawyer for the victim Neil Heywood, said on Monday that Gu Kailai was given the suspended death sentence and a family aide was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment for killing the former Bo family associate. Ahead of the sentencing, He told reporters that he was expecting a "fair" punishment. But even with the verdict, questions remain over the fate of Gu's husband, Bo Xilai, who was dismissed in March as party secretary of the major city of Chongqing. The murder trial comes at a sensitive time in China with a handover soon of power to younger leaders. Gu's arrest and the ouster of her husband sparked the biggest political turbulence since the bloody crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests in 1989. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...