January 15
CHINA:
China sentences Canadian to death for drug smuggling
A Canadian citizen in China has been sentenced to death after a court convicted
him of drug smuggling on Monday, a move likely to further inflame tensions
between Ottawa and Beijing.
The Dalian Intermediate People's Court in northeastern China said Robert Lloyd
Schellenberg was given a death sentence based on the nature and severity of his
crime and in accordance with the Chinese criminal code.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized the ruling, which comes as
relations have strained between the 2 countries following the arrest of a
senior executive from the Chinese tech firm Huawei in Vancouver last month.
According to the court, Schellenberg was dispatched to Dalian by drug
traffickers in November 2014 to orchestrate the smuggling of more than 222
kilograms (489.4 pounds) of methamphetamine from the Chinese port city to
Australia.
Schellenberg and an accomplice bought tools and tires in an attempt to
repackage the drugs before shipping them out in containers, according to the
prosecution.
The Canadian was said to have inspected the cargo, assessed the workload and
decided on a shipping date. After his accomplice turned himself into the
police, Schellenberg fled Dalian and was arrested in southern China on December
1, 2014, when he tried to fly to Thailand, the court said.
"I am not a drug smuggler. I came to China as a tourist," Schellenberg said
Monday before the verdict was announced, the AFP news agency reported. The
court said Schellenberg is entitled to appeal his verdict and sentencing within
10 days. The court added that his rights to defense and translation were
protected during the trial and officials from the Canadian embassy were in
attendance.
Trudeau 'concerned' amid rising tensions
Trudeau said the Chinese court's decision was "of extreme concern."
"It is of extreme concern to us as a government, as it should be to all our
international friends and allies, that China has chosen to begin to arbitrarily
apply the death penalty in cases facing, as in this case, facing a Canadian,"
Trudeau said in a news conference following Monday's ruling.
Schellenberg was first tried in March 2016 and was convicted of being an
accessory to drug smuggling in November 2018. Upon receiving a sentence of 15
years in prison, he appealed the verdict.
A high court ordered a new trial in late December 2018 when the prosecution
said they had uncovered new evidence to prove Schellenberg's principal role in
the case.
Schellenberg's conviction and sentencing came amid worsening diplomatic
tensions between the two countries after Canadian police detained top Huawei
executive Meng Wanzhou on December 1.
Meng, who is also the daughter of the Chinese tech company's founder, has since
been released on bail pending an extradition hearing to the United States on
charges of violating sanctions against Iran. Since her arrest, multiple
Canadian citizens have been detained in China.
In an opinion piece on January 9, the Chinese ambassador to Canada Lu Shaye
effectively confirmed that the detention of 2 Canadian academics was in
response to Meng's arrest, raising further questions around Schellenberg's
case.
"I have recently heard a word repeatedly pronounced by some Canadians:
bullying. They said that by arresting two Canadian citizens as retaliation for
Canada's detention of Meng, China was bullying Canada," the ambassador wrote
last Wednesday in The Hill Times, a Canadian publication.
"To those people, China's self-defense is an offense to Canada. If someone
slaps you on your left cheek, give him your right cheek, they told us. But I
have never seen them doing as they said."
China severely punishes those caught smuggling or trafficking drugs, including
foreigners. Anyone found with more than 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of a controlled
substance can face the death penalty.
In 2009, Akmal Shaikh, a British citizen convicted of carrying up to 4
kilograms (8.8 pounds) of heroin, was executed by lethal injection despite
fierce protests from the UK government and his family, who said he suffered
from a mental disorder and was tricked into carrying the drugs.
According to China.org.cn, a government-run website, at least 12 foreign drug
dealers have been executed in China since 2000, "and other foreigners were
sentenced to death for other serious crimes."
China remains the world's top executor, according to international monitors,
though the country does not publish detailed statistics.
(source: CNN)
*************************
Death sentence for Canadian in China 'of extreme concern': PM
A Canadian man who was convicted of being an accessory to drug-smuggling in
China has been sentenced to death in what appears to be the latest escalation
of the ongoing diplomatic hostilities between the 2 countries.
Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was first arrested in China in 2014. He was tried in
2016 and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
That verdict was appealed, and prosecutors argued at the new trial that the
sentence was too lenient. The new trial concluded Monday, with Schellenberg
being found guilty and given a death sentence. Schellenberg has 10 days to
appeal the sentence, according to his lawyer, Zhang Dongshuo.
According to the court, Schellenberg was recruited to help smuggle 222
kilograms of methamphetamine from a warehouse in Dalian, China, to Australia.
Zhang told The Associated Press that he had argued there was no justification
for a stiffer sentence because no new evidence had been introduced at the 2nd
trial.
Speaking to reporters in Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the
Canadian government would intercede on behalf of Schellenberg, as it is
required to do anytime a Canadian faces the death penalty abroad.
“It is of extreme concern to us as a government, as it should be to all our
international friends and allies, that China has chosen to arbitrarily apply
[the] death penalty,” he said.
While unusual, it is not unprecedented for a foreign national to be sentenced
to death in China. British resident Akmal Shaikh was executed in 2009 for
smuggling heroin.
Chinese officials have suggested that Schellenberg’s case is not related to the
arrests of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor last month or the arrest
in Canada of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.
Zhang said it was “unique” for a retrial to be held so quickly after it was
ordered, but declined to comment on whether it could be related to the ongoing
diplomatic dispute.
However, some analysts have suggested that Schellenberg’s fate could become a
part of diplomatic negotiations between the 2 countries.
Ben Rowswell, a former Canadian diplomat who now heads up the Canadian
International Council foreign policy think tank, said he considered the death
penalty to be “a really dangerous escalation” of hostilities from China.
“In the absence of any messages from the Chinese government that they’re
willing to protect the judicial process and have judicial issues dealt with
separately from political issues, it certainly leads us to interpret this as
yet another escalation,” he told CTV News Channel on Monday.
Schellenberg’s case was never publicized by Chinese media until shortly after
Meng’s arrest.
Rowswell said Schellenberg’s fate would be “on the top of the agenda” for
diplomats from Trudeau on down, with Canadian officials likely attempting to
have Schellenberg returned to Canada and his case dealt with under the Canadian
justice system.
“They will be doing everything possible in closed, secret, diplomatic channels
to try and reach a resolution,” he said.
Lynette Ong, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Asian Institute and
Munk School of Global Affairs, said the Canadian effort would likely involve
convincing China that its world standing would be hurt if it executed
Schellenberg.
Speaking on CTV News Channel, Ong said China needs to be seen as a “benign
power” in order to realize its goal of becoming a greater global power.
“We need to persuade the Chinese that it is actually not in their national
interest to detain Canadians or any foreigners as pawns,” she said.
Schellenberg would be the 1st Canadian citizen ever to be executed by China.
Rowswell said Chinese authorities following through with the sentence could
have far-reaching implications.
“That’s going to push Canadians over the edge,” he said.
“It will take years and years for the Canada-China relationship to recover.”
Erin O’Toole, the Conservative critic for foreign affairs, tweeted that Trudeau
“needs to seize himself with this troubling and deepening diplomatic dispute.”
Monday’s sentence was the “worst-case fear confirmed” for Schellenberg’s
family, according to his aunt, Lauri Nelson-Jones.
“It is rather unimaginable what he must be feeling and thinking. It is a
horrific, unfortunate, heartbreaking situation,” she told The Canadian Press in
an email.
************************
China urges citizens to 'fully assess the risks' of visiting Canada----Ottawa
issued a new ominous travel advisory for China following a death sentence for a
Canadian man.
Justin Trudeau is condemning a sudden decision by a court in China to order the
execution of a B.C. man.
Hours after Canada issued a travel advisory warning of the “arbitrary
enforcement of local laws” in China, Chinese officials have responded in kind.
The country’s foreign ministry published a notice Tuesday warning that Chinese
citizens should “fully assess the risks of going to Canada for tourism.” The
notice said Chinese citizens may find themselves “arbitrarily detained at the
request of a third nation” in an apparent reference to Meng Wanzhou.
Meng, the chief financial officer of technology behemoth Huawei, was arrested
in Vancouver last month following an extradition request from the United States
government. The U.S. accuses her of using a shell company to hide dealings
between Huawei and the Iranian government in violation of U.S. sanctions.
The Chinese government has arrested two Canadian citizens since Meng’s arrest.
Another Canadian, Robert Schellenberg of Abbotsford, B.C., had his 15-year
sentence for being an accessory to drug-smuggling upgraded to the death penalty
Monday following a 2nd trial.
The death sentence is widely being seen as political retaliation, and prompted
Canada to warn Canadian citizens Monday night about the risks of travelling to
China.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua
Chunying expressed “strong dissatisfaction” with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,
who had earlier said he felt “extreme concern” at China’s decision to put a
Canadian to death.
Hua said Trudeau should “respect the rule of law, respect China’s judicial
sovereignty, correct mistakes and stop making irresponsible remarks.”
According to the Chinese courts, Schellenberg was part of an operation to
transport 222 kilograms of methamphetamine from a warehouse in China to a
destination in Australia.
CTV Vancouver reports that a man with the same name and age as Schellenberg has
served jail time for four drug-related convictions in B.C. in the past, 3 of
which were for drug possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Schellenberg’s sentence has also been criticized by Amnesty International,
which said execution was not an appropriate sentence for a drug-related
offence.
"China's death penalty system is shrouded in secrecy, which contributes to why
many will be questioning the timing of this decision,” William Nee of Amnesty
International said in a statement.
“We have seen before that in highly politicized cases the trial is often a mere
spectacle with the outcome already decided.”
Meng’s father has told reporters that he does not believe the death sentence or
the arrests of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor are in any way connected to
Meng’s arrest.
(source for both: CTV news)
******************
China must revoke death sentence against Canadian citizen for drug crimes
Responding to a death sentence given by a Chinese court to Canadian citizen
Robert Schellenberg for drug smuggling, William Nee, China researcher at
Amnesty International, commented:
“The death sentence given to Robert Schellenberg does not deliver justice. We
urge the Chinese authorities to revoke this sentence. Drug-related offences do
not meet international standards for the use of capital punishment.
"China's death penalty system is shrouded in secrecy, which contributes to why
many will be questioning the timing of this decision. We have seen before that
in highly politicized cases the trial is often a mere spectacle with the
outcome already decided.
“The sudden re-trial and apparent rush to judgment has highlighted the numerous
flaws in China’s judicial system. We hope that Robert Schellenberg and his
defence counsel are given adequate time to prepare and respond to the
prosecution’s new evidence when the case is finally brought up for appeal."
Background
Robert Schellenberg had been sentenced to 15 years in prison for drug
smuggling, charges he denies, at his original trial in November 2018 at the
Dalian Intermediate People’s Court in China’s northeast Liaoning Province. At
the appeal hearing held on 29 December 2018, prosecutors said that they had
uncovered new evidence and argued that the original sentence was too lenient.
He received a death sentence at a re-trial by the same Dalian Intermediate
People’s Court on Monday.
China executes more people than any other country in the world; however, the
number of death sentences imposed and number of executions carried out are
shrouded in secrecy. The authorities continue to execute a significant number
of individuals for drug related and other offences which do not meet the “most
serious crimes” threshold to which the use of the death penalty must be
restricted under international law. States are under an obligation to review
their criminal laws to ensure that the death penalty is not imposed for
drug-related offences
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception
regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or
other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to
carry out the execution. The organization has been campaigning for total
abolition of the death penalty for over 40 years.
(source: Amnesty International)
MALAYSIA:
Former IGP says no to abolishing death penalty, urges govt to reconsider
Former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Noor today lambasted
Putrajaya for its decision to abolish the death penalty, saying those who were
convicted must be brave to face the consequences.
Abdul Rahim pointed said a convicted murderer in a fair trial must take
personal responsibility of their actions and must bear the punishment of death
willingly after taking another life.
“The murderer still goes through the court of law and it may take years to
appeal however when they take someone’s life, it is done in seconds.
“If someone is murdered then the murderer must face the eventuality,” he said
in a press conference at the Sultan Sulaiman Club in Kampung Baru here.
In October last year, the Cabinet agreed to abolish the death penalty and halt
pending executions following a moratorium.
On January 8, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law) Datuk Liew Vui
Keong said a new law is expected to be tabled sometime this year in Parliament
to abolish the death penalty.
The former top cop argued that Malaysia being an Asian country must emulate
Asian traits and culture of respecting the life of a human being by ‘exchanging
a life for another taken in a fair manner’.
He then cited several examples of countries such as China, Japan and Singapore
which still maintained capital punishment to this day.
“Those countries retain capital punishment because they view capital punishment
as an effective deterrent to crime,” he said.
Abdul Rahim also called on the government to conduct a thorough study and call
for a national referendum on the matter to reaffirm public opinion.
“As a former policeman, the abolishment is a serious matter to me. There must
be a referendum despite a decision being announced previously.
“I think the democratic process has not been followed,” he said.
He also cited that while several NGOs have shown support to the government’s
move, there exist public apathy towards those affected by the abolishment who
may not be able to seek justice against the perpetrators.
“There is a support imbalance. NGOs like Suhakam, Lawyers for Liberty and the
Malaysian Bar have thrown their support to abolish.
“But what about those from the other side (kins of slain victims)? Does Suhakam
asks about them? It seems nobody is concerned with their plight and all the
(victims) can do is grieve if capital punishment is removed,” he said in
reference to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia.
However Abdul Rahim remained optimistic that the government will reconsider its
decision and retain capital punishment.
“A blanket moratorium on all offences punishable by death is too drastic,” he
said.
The move to abolish has drawn mixed reaction from the various layers of
Malaysian society, with civil rights groups largely welcoming the move but
conservatives arguing that it be retained for particularly heinous crimes.
(source: malaymail.com)
PAKISTAN:
Schizophrenic prisoner on death row: SC to overview the case
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has directed a 2-member bench to oversee the
matter of a mentally ill prisoner Khizar Hayat on death row, whose scheduled
execution was suspended by the apex court on Saturday.
Chief Justice Saqib Nisar on Saturday, while reacting on media reports, had
issued stay order against the execution of Khizar Hayat, who was diagnosed with
paranoid schizophrenia by jail’s medical authorities. Hayat’s execution had
been scheduled for January 15 at the central jail in Kot Lakhpat.
Hayat’s mother Iqbal Bano had appealed the court for the suspension of his
death sentence on grounds of mental illness. Her request, which was submitted
before the court’s human rights cell, was reviewed by Chief Justice Nisar who
suspended Hayat’s execution warrant till further orders and fixed the matter
for hearing on Monday, January 14. As the hearing resumed earlier today,
Justice Nisar instructed a 2-member bench comprising Justice Manzoor Ahmad
Malik and Justice Sardar Tariq Masoof to review the matter. The court was
informed by Additional Advocate General Punjab that a medical board has been
formed for examining Hayat.
A former police officer, 55-year old Hayat was sentenced to death in 2003 for
killing a colleague. He has spent more than 15 years in custody and been in
solitary confinement since 2012; UN experts learnt as they urged the government
to halt the execution questioning the veracity of his conviction. Government
doctors had diagnosed Hayat with schizophrenia in 2008. A petition to move him
to a mental health facility was dismissed on December 6, 2018. “During his
trial, no evidence or witnesses were called in his defence and no questions
were asked regarding his mental health, although he was later diagnosed with a
mental health condition and has been receiving treatment for the past 10
years,” UN experts added.”Implementing the death penalty under these conditions
is unlawful and tantamount to an arbitrary execution, as well as a form of
cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment,” the UN panel said.
2 years ago, experts from the World Psychiatric Association had also appealed
the state of Pakistan to halt his execution, saying he was suffering from
schizophrenia and did not understand the crime he had committed.
(source: dailytimes.com.pk)
NIGERIA:
Judge sentences 5 men to death by hanging for armed robbery
An Osun State High Court sitting in Iwo, on Monday, passed a guilty verdict on
5 men for their involvement in armed robbery and sentenced them to death by
hanging.
The convicts, Ifedayo Adebiyi, Semiu Taofeek, Afolabi Ogunwale, Oyeleke Mukaila
and Ogunbayo Joshua, were arraigned before the court on September 23, 2016, on
3 counts, Punch Metro reports.
The charges preferred against them were armed robbery and unlawful possession
of firearms contrary to sections 6 (b), 1 (1) and (2) (a) and punishable under
Section 1 (1) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap R.11,
Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2014.
The prosecution counsel, Tijani Adekilekun, said the accused robbed one Mr
Fabiyi David of his valuables, including a Lexus SUV, at Emmanuel House,
opposite the P.P. Hotel, Olupona.
The vehicle was later intercepted by the police at the Guru Mahraji area of the
Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
In his judgement, Justice Akin Oladimeji said the prosecutor proved his case
beyond reasonable doubt and found the accused guilty of the allegations of
armed robbery and unlawful possession of firearms.
Justice Oladimeji sentenced the men to death by hanging.
(source: lailasnews.com)
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