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Execution of drug smuggler 'proper'

By Bao Daozu (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-30 07:47

An undated photo of Akmal Shaikh (top) who was yesterday executed by lethal injection in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region; and (above) police officers look at journalists who had gathered on a hillside overlooking the Xishan detention center before the execution was carried out. [AP]

Top court: No reason to cast doubt on Shaikh's mental status

A British national who was convicted of smuggling a vast quantity of drugs into China was executed by lethal injection yesterday in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The Supreme People's Court (SPC) said yesterday that it had approved the death sentence.

Akmal Shaikh, 53, was caught carrying up to 4,030 g of heroin at Urumqi airport after arriving from Dushanbe, capital of Tajikstan, on the morning of Sept 12, 2007.

Shaikh was sentenced to death in the first instance by the Intermediate People's Court of Urumqi on Oct 29, 2008 and the final verdict came in October after two failed appeals.

The SPC said in a statement that Shaikh had broken China's Criminal Law by smuggling huge amounts of heroin, and "the evidence was certain and the facts were clear".

It said the sentence handed down by the Intermediate People's Court of Urumqi was appropriate.

The Criminal Law stipulates that people trafficking more than 50 g of heroin face the death sentence.

Yesterday's execution made Shaikh the first European executed in China in half a century, AP reported, but there was no official confirmation of the report.

Beijing yesterday expressed "strong dissatisfaction" at Britain's criticism of its handling of the case.

"Such accusations are groundless, to which China expressed its resolute opposition," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said.

"We urge the British side to correct its wrongdoing to avoid causing damage to bilateral relations."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said earlier yesterday that he was "appalled and disappointed" at the Chinese court's decision after Shaikh had been executed, according to AP.

"I condemn the execution of Akmal Shaikh in the strongest terms," he said in a statement issued by the British Foreign Office. "I am particularly concerned that no mental health assessment was undertaken."

Shaikh's family were also deeply saddened, stunned and disappointed at the news of his execution, according to a press release from the British embassy in China.

However, China's top court said the defendant's legal rights were fully safeguarded in custody and trial.

It said officials from the British embassy in China and a British organization had proposed a psychiatric evaluation of Shaikh, but the documents they provided could not prove he had a mental disorder nor did members of his family have a history of mental disease.

Shaikh himself did not provide relevant materials suggesting a mental disease, according to the SPC.

"There is no reason to cast doubt on Shaikh's mental status," the SPC said.

The top court also stressed that everyone, regardless of their nationality, was equal before the law and no one can transgress the law.

Ma Kechang, a criminal law professor at Wuhan University, said the top court's decision to not conduct a mental assessment of Shaikh was correct.

"According to Chinese law, courts have the authority to decide whether a person needs such assessment. The decision should not be interfered with," he said.

Sun Dongdong, an expert with the Ministry of Health and director of the judicial expertise center of Peking University, said the Chinese court's action was "absolutely right". Sun's center helps judicial authorities evaluate a person's mental health.

"If his relatives or lawyers wanted to apply for a mental evaluation of Shaikh, they should have provided sufficient material to prove it was possible for him to have a mental disorder," Sun said.

"Then the court would have decided whether it was necessary to do the test."

Sun also said it was improbable for Shaikh to bring 4 kg of heroin into China if he suffered from "bipolar disorder" as some Western media claimed.

"As far as I know, if mentally-ill people commit crimes, these crimes are usually violent ones such as murder and injury," said Sun, who has been involved with judicial mental assessment for more than 20 years.

Xue Jinzhan, professor of criminal law at the East China University of Political Science and Law in Shanghai, said: "It's human nature to plead for a criminal who is from the same country or the same family, but judicial independence should be fully respected and everyone should be equal before the law."

Message boards on some media websites had abundant opinion supporting China's position.

"If you break the law you face the consequences. We don't want him serving his sentence in the UK and then getting out to perhaps committing similar offences in future", said Rorywiltshire Swindon in a posted comment on the website of Daily Mail, a popular British newspaper.

A netizen named Helen posted comments on China Daily's website yesterday, saying: "May this be a warning to all foreigners and Chinese alike that you will be punished if you break the law and no governments or their media can save you!"

Xinhua contributed to the story