China: Billionaire Sun Dawu sentenced to 18 years in prison

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Pig farmer Sun Dawu in September 2019

Photo: NOEL CELIS / AFP

In China, a court sentenced influential billionaire agricultural entrepreneur Sun Dawu to a long prison term.

The judiciary in Gaobeidian, near Beijing, found the 67-year-old guilty of a number of offenses, including "gathering a crowd to attack state organs", "obstructing administration" and "inciting".

The trial had been held behind closed doors.

Sun was arrested with 20 relatives and business associates in November after his company, Dawu Agriculture Group, was embroiled in a land dispute with a state competitor.

According to his lawyer, the proceedings began on Thursday in strict secrecy.

The exact allegations and the reasons for the verdict remained largely unclear.

According to the AP news agency, Sun has to pay a fine of almost half a million US dollars in addition to his imprisonment.

Besides him, other people were sentenced to between one and twelve years in prison.

Sun was a party member - and supported dissidents

Sun, who comes from a simple farming background, had built one of the largest private agricultural companies in China with his wife in the 1980s.

According to the Guardian, he last employed around 9,000 people, so he had his own city built for his employees, which corresponded to his vision of a just rural society.

Sun was a member of the Communist Party and held local government positions, but also supported human rights lawyers and dissidents.

In 2003 he had already been sentenced to imprisonment for “illegal fundraising”, but this was lifted after massive public support.

In 2019, he made a devastating swine fever outbreak public, to which authorities had been slow to respond.

The billionaire had also repeatedly criticized the reaction to the outbreak of the corona pandemic.

Sun had also openly questioned Chinese agricultural policy.

In particular, he called for more freedom of choice for farmers to represent their economic interests.

In recent years, the Chinese authorities have stepped up their crackdown on prominent businesspeople who criticize the Communist Party and head of state Xi Jinping.

In September, former chairman of the real estate company Ren Zhiqiang was sentenced to 18 years in prison on corruption charges.

He had also previously criticized Xi's handling of the corona pandemic.

fek / AP / AFP