Chinese authorities have sentenced a billionaire and a known government critic, Ren Zhiqiang to 18 years in prison on charges of corruption after he called out President Xi Jingpin for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. He called the Chinese leader a clown for the way the virus was being handled.
Zhiqiang who is the former chairman of state owned real estate group, Hauyan was also fined 4.2 million Yuan by a Beijing intermediate Court on Tuesday.
The court claimed while giving its verdict that the 69 year old government critic confessed to all his crimes and would not appeal the decision of the court.
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The former property executive was put under investigation for serious violations of discipline and law back in April after he called Xi Jinping a clown in a scathing publication in March.
The executive went missing in March after writing a publication which criticized the coronavirus outbreak and said its handling revealed governance within the Chinese Communist party.
While not referring to President Xi by name, the Billionaire wrote that instead of an emperor showing off his new clothes he saw a clown stripped naked who still insisted on being emperor.
“The reality shown by this epidemic is that the party defends its own interests, the government officials defend their own interests, and the monarch only defends the status and interests of the core,” the essay said.
Prior to his imprisonment in 2020, Ren Zhiqiang had been placed on probation for one year in 2016 as punishment for criticizing government policy. His social media accounts were also shut down.
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