他她话题:实事求是看待谷开来案庭审

The trial of Gu Kailai for the murder of a British businessman is being hailed in China as a model of openness. The state-owned newspaper, Global Times, says the court appearance this week of the wife of Bo Xilai, the disgraced Communist party "princeling", will strengthen public confidence in the country's legal system. This might have been the case if the process had indeed been open and transparent. It was not.

谷开来因涉嫌谋杀一名英国商人出庭受审一事，在中国被标榜为开放的典范。官方报纸《环球时报》称，已倒台的中共"太子党"官员薄熙来之妻上周出庭，将增强公众对中国司法制度的信心。如果庭审过程真的是开放和透明的，公众的信心也许确实会增强。但事实并非如此。

Too many questions remain unanswered in the stage-managed trial. There were no witnesses called to the stand, apart from a forensics expert. Ms Gu, who reportedly confessed to the crime, was denied the use of her family's chosen lawyer and made to accept an advocate designated by the party. Two British diplomats and a representative of the murdered man's family were present, but the general public and international press were not allowed to watch the proceedings. The details of what was said for and against the defendant are scant, dictated to most media by the official press release and often repeated verbatim. Even if the guilty verdict that most expect is the right one, Ms Gu's fate appears to have been sealed even before the court opened its doors. Far from reinforcing confidence in the courts, the trial highlights the continued failings of China's judicial system.

在这场政府安排的庭审中，有太多的疑问没有得到解答。除了一名法医专家外，庭上没有传唤任何证人作证。据报道承认罪行的谷开来，被拒绝使用家人挑选的律师，只得被迫接受党指定的辩护人。两名英国外交官和被害人家属的一名代表获准旁听，但公众和外国媒体被拒之门外。外人对控辩双方的辩论细节了解甚少，多数媒体只能得到官方的新闻稿，其内容重复，往往一字不差。即便多数人预期的有罪判决是正确的，谷开来的命运也似乎早在开庭之前就被决定了。这场庭审与其说强化了人们对法庭的信心，不如说暴露了中国司法体系依然存在的缺陷。

The show trial of Ms Gu may in fact turn out to be less about her alleged crimes than about stage-managing a smooth leadership transition for the Communist party in the autumn.

事实上，谷开来的"庭审秀"到头来也许并不是关于她涉嫌犯下的罪行，而是关于确保中共领导层在今年秋天顺利换届。

Ms Gu's husband, in detention since April, was the high-flying party chief of Chonqing. He had lobbied hard for one of the nine seats in the politburo standing committee, bypassing party organs and appealing directly to the public. But pursuing these unorthodox tactics – while amassing a sizeable fortune – appears to have riled some party leaders. He has been charged with serious, but unspecified breaches of party discipline, however his fate, like his wife's, will be decided in line with the needs of the party rather than the law.

自4月以来一直遭到拘禁的薄熙来，此前是心怀大志的重庆市委书记。他曾经积极争取"入常"，即成为中共中央政治局的9名常委之一，在此过程中绕过党的机关，直接向公众寻求支持。但是，采用此类非正统的战术——与此同时聚敛大笔财富——似乎激怒了一些党内领导人。他被指严重违反党的纪律，但党并未说明具体是哪些纪律。就像谷开来一样，他的命运将根据党的需要（而非法律）来决定。

In the public purge, Mr Bo's family has become a symbol of the sense of entitlement and impunity that many believe are the hallmark of the political elite in China. The party's intention now is presumably to show that no one is above the law, least of all its elite. But the opaque manner in which Ms Gu's trial was conducted proves that the party is not yet ready to make itself publicly accountable. In the long term, this can only be a losing battle. The millions of citizens who have blogged about the Bo affair with increasing accuracy over recent months prove the difficulty of keeping party politics behind closed doors. The public's demand for accountability cannot be ignored forever.

在高度公开化的整肃中，薄家已成为特权和不受惩罚的象征——很多人相信，这正是当今中国政坛精英阶层的标志。想必中共现在的意图是显示没有人凌驾于法律之上，尤其是党内精英。但是谷开来庭审的不透明方式证明，中共还没有准备好接受公众问责。长远来看，这是一场打不赢的战役。近几个月来，数以百万计的中国网民就薄熙来事件在博客上发表文章，其内容的准确性越来越高，这证明把党内政治隐藏在关紧的大门之后是很难的。不能永远忽视公众对问责的诉求。