According to Li's mom, his dad is apparently a military scientist and she herself is a retired bureaucrat. His mom and his lawyers apparently now believe that he would have received a fairer trial in Canada. Maybe they say that now because the family could not "influence" the decision?
"Chinese courts are legally required to announce their verdict within a month of being presented a case by the prosecution, according to Jerome Cohen, a New York University professor considered the top foreign expert on China’s justice system."
“Such extraordinary delay usually means an inability of the relevant leaders to agree on the outcome,” said Prof. Cohen. “This occurs in politically sensitive cases. The court in these circumstances simply waits for the political powers-that-be to instruct it about the severity of the sentence.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle4562747/