Ousted senior politician Bo Xilai's appeal to overturn his life sentence in jail was rejected by an eastern China court on Friday, Reuters reported.
The court said Xilai's charges of bribery, corruption and abuse of power were all evidenced against him. According to Reuters, the high court Jinan in the eastern province of Shandong where Xilai was originally tried was satisfied with the first decision.
"This court verified the facts and evidence of the court of first instance," Shandong high court spokesman Hou Jianjun said, according to Reuters. "The reasons for appeal presented by Bo Xilai and the opinions of his counsel did not have factual and legal basis, and were not tenable."
The court "ruled to reject the appeal, and uphold the original judgment," Hou said. "The above ruling is the final judgment."
Xilai, who entered the China leadership circles and had a large following due to his quasi-Maoist policies, was sentenced life in prison in September, Reuters reported. Last year his wife, Gu Kailai, was convicted of poisoning a British businessman, and old friend of the family, Neil Heywood.
Xilai, 64, was Communist Party chief of the southwestern metropolis of Chongqing and denounced his wife's testimony against him as the "ravings of a mad woman hoping to have her own sentence reduced," Reuters reported.
According to Reuters, he admitted to making certain mistakes during his handling of former Chongqing police chief, Wang Lijun, who first told Xilai his wife had murdered Heywood, but continues to claim he was not guilty of any charges against him.
The China courts are controlled by the Communist Party and once they decide on something, there is no legal remedy that can un-do it, according to Reuters. Xilai has no other options and will be sent back to the Qincheng jail north of Beijing where members of the elite serve time.
Wang fled to a U.S. consulate after confronting Xilai last year with evidence that his wife, Gu, was involved in the murder, and was also jailed last year for trying to cover up the crime, Reuters reported.
The Communist party has used Xilai as an example as it plans to remove deep-seated corruption that threatens the party's survival, Reuters reported.
According to Zhang Lifan, a political commentator, Xilai's crimes were never the issue, and they are very light in comparison to the serious allegations against him, like those from the victims of the crackdown on organized crime, Reuters reported.
"The real significance of this is that it shows that the highest authorities are not to be challenged. Any challenge to those authorities is doomed," Zhang said, according to the AP. "I think this is very clear-cut."
