Pubdate: Tue, 29 Dec 2009
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Page: A4
Copyright: 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wsj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
Author: Loretta Chao
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Akmal+Shaikh

CHINA IGNORES APPEALS, EXECUTES BRITON

BEIJING -- China executed a British national for drug smuggling, 
sparking outrage from British leaders, who had appealed for clemency 
on mental-health grounds, and threatening to strain relations between 
the countries.

Akmal Shaikh, convicted of carrying more than four kilograms of 
heroin two years ago at Urumqi Diwopu International Airport in 
northwestern Xinjiang province, was executed by lethal injection on 
Tuesday after China's Supreme People's Court upheld his death 
sentence, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown condemned the execution, saying 
in a statement that he is "appalled and disappointed that our 
persistent requests for clemency have not been granted." He expressed 
his "sincere condolences" to Mr. Shaikh's family and friends.

"I am particularly concerned that no mental-health assessment was 
undertaken," he added.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu dismissed the British 
complaints. At a regular news briefing she said the Chinese 
government is "strongly dissatisfied and is absolutely opposed to the 
unjustifiable condemnations" from the U.K.

"We urge the British side to show respect to China's judicial 
supremacy and redress the mistake immediately to avoid damaging 
bilateral relations," Ms. Jiang said.

Cousins of Mr. Shaikh visited him on Monday, his first direct family 
contact in two years, and issued a last-minute plea for mercy, the 
Associated Press reported. The cousins said they felt the 53-year-old 
father of three, a small-business owner from London, was not rational 
and needed medication. They said he was lured to China by men who 
promised to help him launch a career in pop music.

Xinhua quoted a statement issued by the Supreme People's Court as 
saying that that there was insufficient proof that Mr. Shaikh had any 
mental-health issues and that the evidence against him was "certain 
and the facts were clear."

Mr. Shaikh's rights were fully granted, the court said, adding that 
drug crimes are serious criminal offenses with "severe negative 
social impact," according to the Xinhua report.

According to Chinese criminal law, people trafficking more than 50 
grams of heroin can be punished by death.

Reprieve, a London-based prisoner-advocacy group that lobbied for Mr. 
Shaikh, said he is the first European to be executed in China in 58 
years. The last person was an Italian, Antonio Riva, who was shot by 
firing squad in 1951, along with a Japanese man, Ruichi Yamaguchi, 
after being convicted of involvement in what China alleged was an 
American plot to assassinate Mao Zedong and other high-ranking 
Communist officials.

The execution again put a spotlight on China's use of the death 
penalty and its judicial processes, which have attracted criticism 
from international human-rights groups.

The Chinese central government doesn't disclose death-penalty 
statistics. But Amnesty International estimates that China executed 
at least 1,718 people last year, the most of any country, followed by 
346 people executed in Iran, 102 in Saudi Arabia, and 37 in the U.S.

Roseann Rife, the deputy director of Amnesty's Asia Pacific program, 
said the number of executions in China in 2008 could be as high as 
5,000 or 6,000. She said Mr. Shaikh's nationality didn't seem to be a 
factor in his sentencing, but because his case received high-profile 
attention there was reason to hope for a different outcome.

Ms. Rife called the lack of consideration for outside concerns "a 
comment on the Chinese government's disregard for international 
opinion, disregard for international human-rights obligations, and 
also a real disregard for the rule of law."

Ms. Jiang said China "is very cautious in applying the death 
penalty." She added: "China is a country ruled by law, and our 
justice agencies are strictly doing their job based on law."
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake