A Chinese property mogul, Ren Zhiqiang has been sentenced to eighteen years imprisonment for corruption after calling the President Xi Jinping a clown.
Zhiqiang, who is the former chairman of Huayuanand and critic of President Xi was sentenced to 18 years in prison for corruption, bribery, and embezzlement of public funds and was also fined 4.2million yuan.
Beijing No. 2 Intermediate Court in a post on its website said the 69-year-old man truthfully confessed all his crimes and would not appeal the sentence.
Zhiqiang, who described President Xi Jinping as a clown over his handling of the coronavirus outbreak went missing after writing a critical essay about the outbreak.
It was gathered that a translated version of the essay indicated that the estate mogul stated that President Xi and his government officials only care about protecting their interests.
According to the essay, the Coronavirus epidemic showed that the Chinese President only cares about himself.
Meanwhile, rights campaigners have accused President Xi Jinping and the Communist Party of using corruption charges to silence dissent.