Hong Kong (CNN) A Chinese court has sentenced Swedish bookseller Gui Minhai to 10 years in prison for "providing intelligence" overseas, in a case that is likely to reignite international criticism of Beijing's treatment of its critics.

Gui, 55, was sentenced by a court in the eastern city of Ningbo. According to a court statement posted online, Gui pleaded guilty to the charge and said he would not appeal.

Gui was one of five Hong Kong-based booksellers who went missing in late 2015 , before resurfacing in Chinese police custody. Known as the Causeway Bay Books disappearances, all five of those missing were linked to a Hong Kong bookstore owned by publisher Mighty Current, best known for gossipy titles about China's ruling elite, including President Xi Jinping.

Gui disappeared while visiting his holiday home in Thailand. He later reappeared on Chinese state television, confessing to an alleged drunk-driving incident more than a decade earlier. According to state news agency Xinhua, Gui was sentenced to two years in jail but left before the sentence could be carried out.

His televised confession later became a symbol of what human rights advocates say is the Beijing government's increasingly repressive measures to clampdown on dissent -- including overseas abductions, televised confessions, and ignoring consular rights even for those with foreign citizenship.

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