A Rwandan court has sentenced a Chinese national Sun Shujun for torture after a video showed him beating his former employees, whom he tied on a tree.
Shujun was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a court on Tuesday, according to a journalist who attended the hearing.
A Rwandan guy who is said to be his employee was also sentenced to 12 years in prison for aiding and abetting the torture.
The victims are said to have been former employees of Shujun’s mine in the Rutsiro district who were reportedly involved in theft.
Shujun claimed that when his possessions were routinely stolen, he had previously warned burglars.
The three-minute video went viral in Rwanda in August 2021, prompting the arrest of Shujun, who was eventually released on bail.
Angry workers recorded the incident and shared it on social media. According to local media, the Chinese embassy in Kigali criticised “unlawful behaviour” in the video.
It was said that Shujun had erected a cross where anyone suspected of stealing from him were bound and lashed.