China jails a billionaire for 18 years for coronavirus

A Chinese court convicted a well-known Chinese businessman and billionaire on corruption charges and sentenced him to 18 years in prison, shortly after he criticized Chinese President Xi Jinping and his country's government about their handling of the coronavirus, which raised doubts and concerns about the charges against him and whether they were Fabricated or not.

The Chinese billionaire and well-known real estate tycoon Ren Zhiqiang disappeared last March after he wrote a scathing article that month criticizing the Chinese president's response to the coronavirus epidemic, while corruption charges were brought against him after that, and his conviction was issued by the court recently, and finished as a wanted prisoner. Spend his 18-year prison sentence.

According to a report published by American media and seen by Al-Arabiya Net, a Beijing court convicted Ren on multiple charges last Tuesday, including embezzlement of about $ 16.3 million of public funds, accepting bribes, and misusing power, causing losses to the state totaling 17.2 Million dollars.

The Chinese court sentenced him to 18 years in prison and a fine of 620,000 dollars (4.2 million yuan). The court said that he "voluntarily confessed to all his crimes and all his illegal gains were restored."

A CNN report said, "The conviction rate in courts in China is about 99%, according to legal observers, and corruption charges are often used to prosecute those familiar with the actions of the Communist Party who oppose the leadership."

The American Network added in its report, which was seen by Al Arabiya Net, that "it seems that Ren’s conviction and the harsh sentence against him aim to send a message to other members of the Chinese elite that no public criticism or defiance of the president will be tolerated, as Beijing continues to deal with the repercussions of the epidemic And it faces intense international pressure from Washington and others."

It is noteworthy that the 69-year-old billionaire Ren is among the ruling elite of the Communist Party, and he has often spoken frankly about Chinese politics much more than is usually permitted in the country.

Chinese activists on social networks call him "the cannon" because of his frankness and daring, which are not available to many people in China.

In an article published in March that was attributed to Ren and spread widely, he criticized the party's campaign against freedom of the press and intolerance of dissent. While the article did not mention President Xi by name, it indirectly referred to the country's supreme leader as a power-hungry "clown."

The article accused the Communist Party of placing its interests above the safety of the Chinese people to secure their rule.

Shortly after the article was published online, Ren disappeared, and his relatives feared that he had been arrested. In early April, the authorities confirmed that Ren was under investigation on charges of corruption, and last July the ruling Communist Party decided to expel the veteran member from its ranks, which paved the way for his criminal prosecution, and he ended up sentenced to 18 years in prison.