A British man convicted of drug smuggling was executed in China early Tuesday despite appeals for mercy on the grounds of mental illness from Shaikh's family, human rights groups and Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
The man, Akmal Shaikh, 53, was executed by lethal injection in the western region of Xinjiang province, where he had been convicted in 2008 of entering the country carrying a suitcase stuffed with heroin according to China's official news agency.
Mr. Shaikh was born in Pakistan and moved to Britain at age 11. Family members say he had a long history of mental problems and had been duped into carrying the suitcase. Mr. Shaikh left for China in 2007 with delusional thoughts of starting a career as a pop singer family member said. Mr. Shaikh’s daughter, Leilla Horsnell, was quoted by the BBC as saying she was “shocked and disappointed that the execution went ahead with no regards to my dad’s mental health problems, and I struggle to understand how this is justice.”
In a statement released Tuesday, the Supreme People’s Court said officials from the British Embassy in China and a British organization had asked that Mr. Shaikh be examined for mental illness. But the court contended that “the documents they provided could not prove he had mental disorder nor did members of his family have a history of mental disease.”
In a statement released after the execution on Tuesday, the court called drug crimes "serious criminal offenses" that deserved severe punishment.
The court also said that Chinese criminal law stipulates that everyone is equal before the law and that no one is permitted to “transgress the law”— an indication that the government would not grant leniency to a foreign citizen.
According to Chinese criminal law, anyone found guilty of smuggling 50 grams (1.8 ounces) of illicit drugs is punishable by death.
Mr. Shaikh was caught in 2007 carrying 3.7 kilograms (about 8.3 pounds) of heroin in a suitcase on a flight from Tajikistan to Xinjiang.
Mr. Shaikh was the first European to be executed in China in more than 50 years.
What's your take on this issue?
2 years, 1 month ago
Anyone stupid enough to carry 8 pounds of heroin in a suitcase is certainly mentally ill.