Retired real estate billionaire Ren Zhiqiang and fierce critic of Chinese president Xi Jinping has been sentenced to 18 years in prison alongside a $620,000 fine over multiple corruption charges.
The charges include embezzlement of over 110 million yuan ($16.3 million) in public funds, acceptance of bribes, and abuse of power that caused losses totaling $17.2 million for a state-owned property company that he once led.
Ren «voluntarily confessed all of his crimes» and accepted the verdict, according to a Beijing court.
Ren reportedly disappeared after first allegedly publishing an essay in March criticizing Xi and leadership in Beijing over their response to the outbreak, calling the former «a clown who stripped naked and insisted on continuing being emperor». He later reemerged with Chinese authorities in early April for the corruption probe that led to the subsequent outcome.
«The Cannon»
The 69-year old Ren was born into the Communist Party’s ruling elite and has long been outspoken within Chinese politics beyond levels traditionally tolerated by authorities. His critical tone and forthrightness have, in fact, earned him the nickname «The Cannon» on social media.
«Without a media representing the interests of the people by publishing the actual facts, the people's lives are being ravaged by both the virus and the major illness of the system," Ren wrote in a translated version of the essay, underlining the claim that the party had secured rule and put its own interest above that of the general public.
