Update | 'Let my father defend himself' says son of graft-accused Bo Xilai

Bo Guagua, the younger son of former Politburo member Bo Xilai, has made a rare public comment ahead of his father's corruption trial tomorrow, saying he had been unable to communicate with his parents for a year and a half and drawing attention to their "clandestine detention".

In a statement released to on Monday, the younger Bo, who lives in the US, bemoaned his mother's conviction on a murder charge and said he hoped his father would have "the opportunity to answer his critics and defend himself".

Bo Xilai has been at the centre of arguably the biggest scandal to shake the Communist Party in decades. His wife, Gu Kailai , was convicted last year in the poisoning death of a British businessman.

In July, Bo Xilai, former party chief of the southwestern municipality of Chongqing , was charged with bribe-taking, corruption and abuse of power. The party announced on Sunday that his trial would start tomorrow in Jinan , the capital of Shandong province.

Political analysts said the outcome had almost certainly been decided already by party leaders, and Bo Xilai, 64, is expected to get a long prison sentence.