The outspoken Chinese tycoon Sun Dawu was sentenced to 18 years in jail on Wednesday on charges ranging from provoking trouble to illegal fundraising. The Gaobeidian People’s Court also handed down jail sentences of between 18 months to 12 years to Sun’s two sons and two brothers. The Dawu Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Group, a conglomerate that bears the tycoon’s name, was fined more than 30 million yuan (US$4.6 million), had another 14 million yuan confiscated and was ordered to repay over 1 billion yuan of deposits it has taken from employees and local residents in Hebei province. All 20 defendants in the case were found guilty but five were given suspended sentences, according to a brief statement posted by the court on its social media platform and Sun’s legal team. The trial of Sun, his family and business associates lasted for two weeks and it was being closely watched as the tycoon was seen as an outspoken critic of the Chinese leadership. The Dawu group, which employs more than 9,000 people, wielded considerable local influence. Outspoken agricultural tycoon Sun Dawu stands trial in China Defence lawyers issued a statement after the trial, saying they were “very disappointed” and would appeal. “We will continue to provide legal services and assist the defendants … until we have exhausted all legal procedures and means,” they added. According to a message shared by the lawyers, Sun, 67, had tried to shoulder all the blame and pleaded with the court to exonerate the other defendants. “The Dawu Group has erred and I have made mistakes. The fault lay with me,” Sun reportedly said. “I am not afraid of being sentenced but I would ask the court to adjudicate according to the facts and the law and acquit the others.” During the trial, defence lawyers argued unsuccessfully that testimonies collected by prosecutors while Sun and other defendants were detained should be ruled inadmissible since they were taken under “torturous conditions”. Tang Dajie, a researcher at the China Enterprise Institute, a Beijing-based think tank, said the heavy sentence on Sun and his associates would have a discouraging effect on other private entrepreneurs. “There’s a widely shared view that the government is paying lip service to helping the private sector but does nothing in rolling back the crackdown on it,” he said. He added that Sun’s sentencing also showed the limits of free speech in China today. “There was some space for public discussion [in 2003] when Sun first faced trial but was given a relatively light sentence after many economists and intellectuals spoke out for him,” he said. “This time, very few parties were able to make those same voices and exert the same pressure [on the authorities].” Chinese billionaire Sun Dawu faces decades in jail, legal team say Sun, who had been vocal in criticising the authorities, especially over their rural policies, was accused of illegal fundraising in 2003. He was later released after a group of lawyers, including prominent rights activist Xu Zhiyong , defended him. Xu himself has been in detention since February last year after he published an open letter calling for President Xi Jinping to step down. In 2015, Sun voiced his support for those caught up in the “ 709 crackdown ”, when over 300 human rights lawyers and activists were detained. He also publicly criticised the Hebei authorities in 2019, accusing them of covering up the extent of the damage done by African swine fever outbreaks . Additional reporting by Jun Mai