Bo Xilai insists he did not abuse power (2)

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But the chief judge reminded Bo that it was him as well as the prosecutors who applied for Wang's presence at the court. Bo said "thanks" to the judge afterward.

Bo's defense lawyers questioned the objectivity and authenticity of Wang's testimony.

"The moment that he (Wang) appeared in court, he showed grave hostility toward the defendant, saying that he was a victim of the defendant rather than a witness," a defense lawyer said.

But prosecutors said Wang's testimony was consistent with his previous statements, which could also be verified by the testimony of other witnesses and documentary evidence.

The prosecutors also said that Bo allowed his wife, who was not a civil servant, to take part in discussions about how to handle Wang's defection.

Bo sanctioned his wife's suggestion to ask a hospital to fake a diagnosis that Wang had mental illness, and the false information was released to the public under Bo's instruction, the prosecutors said.

The prosecutors presented the testimony of Huang Qifan, mayor of Chongqing, and three other officials, in which the four witnesses said that Bo talked with them in late January 2012 and suggested dismissing Wang without the approval of the Ministry of Public Security.

According to regulations, dismissing a provincial-level police chief needs approval from the ministry.

Bo admitted that he had made mistakes in handling the issues, including dismissing Wang from his post, but he insisted that he was not involved in any abuse of power and the responsibility lay entirely with his wife and an official surnamed Wu.

During the four-day trial, prosecutors also accused Bo of taking bribes from businessmen Tang Xiaolin, general manager of Dalian International Development, and Xu Ming, chairman of Dalian Shide Group, and embezzling 5 million yuan from a government project. Bo denied all the charges.

Throughout Sunday's session of the trial, Bo was "emotionally stable and physically fine", said court spokesman Liu Yanjie, at a news briefing on Sunday.

Bo said in court that the prosecutors have done a lot of work and that he respected this.

"I think that the Jinan Intermediate People's Court is very humane, and the trial process is very civilized. I appreciate all of you," Bo said on Sunday.

Chen Weidong, a procedural law professor at Renmin University of China, said a half-day break on Sunday from the prolonged hearing could let the prosecutors and the defense get refreshed and be prepared for the upcoming court debate.

"The hearing has been going on for nearly four days. It may be difficult for the public to imagine the tension and pressure that the judges, prosecutors and defense face in court. I think they need a break," he said.

Chen said court debate is usually fiercer than cross-examination and requires full dedication from all the parties.

He suggested the prosecutors and the defense make use of the break to take down the key points proposed by the other side and list important arguments they would use in Monday's debate.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

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