Superstar Kris Wu has been sentenced to 13 years in prison in China. The Chinese-Canadian singer is accused of raping a Chinese student when she was 17 years old. He should be deported at the end of his sentence.
With our correspondent in Beijing, Stephane Lagarde
An exemplary sentence for a case that caused a huge scandal in China. At 32, Wu Yifan, alias Kris Wu, was sentenced to ” eleven years and six months’ imprisonment for rape by the Chaoyang Court in Beijing, as well as one year and ten months of detention for “crime in meeting with a view to committing adultery”. To this, the tax office added, a few hours after the judgment, a fine of 600 million yuan – more than 80 million euros – for tax evasion.
Jail and deportation
Recognized by the courts as guilty of three rapes between November and December 2020, including one underage, the Chinese-Canadian singer has always denied the facts: “ I only met Miss Du once, during a party with friends, explained the latter after his arrest. There was no trick rape and no one made anyone take drugs or alcohol to rape her. »
His arrest in the summer of 2021 in Beijing sparked a media storm waking up the movement MeToo in China. Brands like Louis Vuitton, L’Oréal and Porsche, of which he was the ambassador, have suspended their partnership with the singer.
The authorities, who usually avoid giving too much publicity to these trials, see censor this kind of business, applauded his arrest. ” You must respect Chinese law on Chinese soil said the CCP’s Legal Affairs Committee, People’s Daily claiming that the more popular you are, the more you should lead by example.
Henceforth, in police reports as well as in newspaper articles, the accent was placed on “ Canadian nationality from the star. Some netizens have called not only for the ” return to Canada », but also to exchange it for Meng Wanzhou, the Huawei heiress then under house arrest in Vancouver. Kris Wu will be deported at the end of his sentence, the court has said.