Kris Wu was sentenced to 13 years in jail. Image Source: Billboard
Former member of K-pop band EXO, Kris Wu was sentenced to 13 years in jail.
Kris Wu, a Chinese-Canadian music and an acting star was sentenced to 13 years in prison by a Chinese court after being convicted of rape and group licentiousness. The actor-singer will also be deported after completing his sentence, according to the court.
Kris Wu, real name Wu Yifan, was detained in August of last year and his lawsuit was heard in June without media access. In July 2021, Du Meizhu, an 18-year-old beauty influencer, took to social media to accuse Kris Wu.
Du Meizhu wrote that the actor-singer had date-raped her when she was 17 years old, while she was drunk, and that he had executed the same to other young women, including two minors. It ought to be noted that the age of consent in China is 14 years. At the time, the actor-singer denied the accusations, and it was also noted that the police did appear to be on his side.
After a formal investigation, the Chaoyang District People's Procurator in Beijing issued an official statement saying that Kris Wu's detention had been authorized. According to a statement released shortly after, Kris Wu compelled three women to have sex with him in 2020 while they were under the influence of alcoholic beverages. He structured lewd events at his residence with two women in 2018, this time with alcohol. According to the statement, embassy officials from Canada were present at the sentencing.
The court issued an online statement stating that the earlier declared judgment was made based on the facts, essence, situations, and unpleasant effects of the crime. Rape carries a sentence of three to ten years in prison in China, though in pretty heinous cases, the sentence can be life in prison or even the death sentence. Group licentiousness, defined as sex with three or more participants over the age of 16, carries a 5 prison sentence. According to media reports at the time of the trial in June, Wu faced a jail term of three to ten years.
The 13-year sentence is longer, which could be due to aggravating factors or the court's decision to make an example of a celebrity. The actor-singer was also fined RMB 600 million by the Beijing Municipal Tax Service of the State Taxation Administration for tax evasion. According to authorities, Wu managed to evade 95 million yuan in taxes from 2019 to 2020 by concealing personal wealth through foreign and domestic affiliated enterprises, and low paid taxes by 84 million yuan.
Wu was an ambassador for 15 brands at the time of his arrest, including Bulgari, Lancôme, Louis Vuitton, and Porsche, all of which cut ties with him immediately. Following the initial claims, more victims came forward online, accusing Wu's staff of sexual harassment, such as inviting them to boozy karaoke parties. Following the backlash, the tags "girls helping girls," "girls helping girls time," and "girls helping girls" were stripped away from Chinese social media platforms where women expressed their support for Du.
The Weibo trending hashtag "the law is indeed the lowest standard of morals" received 830 million views as users expressed their dissatisfaction with the high legal threshold needed for victims to prove sexual abuse in court. The Wu saga was reminiscent of China's increasingly desperate #MeToo movement, which saw a wave of women come forward in 2018 to speak out about sexual assault life experiences, sometimes encompassing powerful famous people.
Du took to Weibo social media after Kris' sentence was announced to announce that the day had finally arrived. She went on to say how grateful she is for China's legal system, which does not spare any criminals, no matter how famous they are.
Supporters of China's nascent #MeToo movement said the conviction if upheld, would serve as a reminder to sexual harassment perpetrators. Huang Simin, a human rights lawyer based on the Chinese mainland who has worked on gender violence cases said that the verdict will also inspire some women to have the courage to step forward to defend their liberties in surroundings where survivors are often humiliated and humiliated.
