The BGB

Post: #1 (ID: 115653)

By CARA ANNA, Associated Press Writer Cara Anna, Associated Press Writer – 6 mins ago

BEIJING – China on Tuesday dismissed an appeal from Prime Minister Gordon Brown to spare a British man set to be executed next week for drug smuggling, saying he had a fair trial despite concerns he suffers mental health problems and was duped into the crime.

Akmal Shaikh, 53, was sentenced in a half-hour trial in October 2008 for taking a suitcase containing almost 9 pounds (4 kilograms) of heroin into the far western Chinese city of Urumqi. China's highest court has rejected his appeal and his execution is set for Dec. 29.

He would be the first European to be executed in China in a half-century.

Family members have not been allowed to visit Shaikh since his arrest in 2007 and say he has a lifelong history of unbalanced behavior and may suffer bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic depression.

Britain has expressed alarm over his imminent execution, accusing Chinese officials of not taking Shaikh's mental health concerns into account as required by law, despite repeated requests from his lawyers, the prime minister and numerous British and European officials.

Downing Street said Brown had written Monday to "express dismay" over the court's upholding of the death sentence.

"We will be using the next few days to renew and intensify our appeal to the Chinese authorities for clemency," the Foreign Office said in a statement.

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu refused to address the mental health issue and only said Shaikh's case "was handled according to the law."

"Drug smuggling is a grave crime. The rights of the defendant have been fully guaranteed," she told a regular news conference.

British human rights group Reprieve says Shaikh, a small business owner from London, was lured to China by two men who promised to help him launch a career in pop music. He was arrested traveling on a flight from Tajikistan to Urumqi. A preliminary psychological report commissioned by the group says Shaikh's actions "were most likely influenced by some form of delusional psychosis."

Reprieve said Shaikh's legal options have been exhausted now that the Supreme People's Court of China has rejected his appeal, and said his last chance appeared to be clemency. It appealed to Chinese President Hu Jintao to grant Shaikh a pardon.

Shaikh's family has not been able to speak with him since his arrest in 2007, but the British Embassy has been able to visit him from time to time, said Sally Rowen, a legal director at Reprieve.

"It is impossible to imagine what Akmal's family are going through this holiday season," Reprieve Director Clive Stafford Smith said in a statement. "This is no time for pride — they beg the Chinese authorities to show compassion and take Akmal's mental health problems into account."

China executes more people than any other country — by gunshot to the head or lethal injection — but the Supreme People's Court in July called for the death penalty to be used less often and for only the most serious criminal cases.

The court overturned 10 percent of death sentences handed down in 2008, the China Daily newspaper has reported. But China still put at least 1,718 people to death in 2008, according to Amnesty International.

The Urumqi Intermediate People's Court spokesman did not answer calls Tuesday. The spokeswoman for the Xinjiang regional government, Wu Nong, said she did not know about Shaikh's case.

Post: #2 (ID: 115657)

I agree generally. But it is a shame if he was mental and innocent and duped

Post: #3 (ID: 115666)

That's become a standard defense, true or not. If he was that bad, why was he allowed to travel abroad in the first place?

Post: #4 (ID: 115669)

Now they say it's because he has bipolar disorder... Errrm, that would make you manic, or depressed, but not mentally incapable...

Post: #5 (ID: 115673)

AWWW! The poor dope-dealer is going to be executed Tuesday - and they didn't even tell him... Bouncing Grin

By NG HAN GUAN, Associated Press Writer Ng Han Guan, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 20 mins ago

URUMQI, China – Relatives made a last-minute plea for mercy Monday for a Briton scheduled to be executed in China for drug smuggling after visiting the man whom they say may be mentally ill.

Akmal Shaikh, a 53-year-old father of three, was not aware that his execution had been scheduled for Tuesday, until his cousins told him.

He would be the first citizen of a European country to be put to death in China in half a century.

China has already rejected a plea from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for Shaikh to be spared.

Eleventh-hour appeals are almost never granted in China, which executes more people each year than all other countries combined.

"We beg the Chinese authorities for mercy and clemency to help reunite this heartbroken family," his cousin, Soohail Shaikh, said in a statement read to reporters in the far western city of Urumqi, where his cousin is being held.

Soohail Shaikh said he and his brother Nasir Shaikh visited Akmal Shaikh on Monday morning — his first direct family contact in the two years since he was arrested.

Soohail Shaikh said his cousin had not previously been told of his impending execution.

"He was obviously very upset on hearing from us of the sentence that was passed," Soohail Shaikh said. "We strongly feel that he's not rational and he needs medication."

It was not immediately clear why Shaikh had not been aware until Monday he was facing execution.

Shaikh, who is of Pakistani descent, was sentenced in a half-hour trial in October 2008 for taking a suitcase containing almost nine pounds (four kilograms) of heroin into Urumqi in 2007. He was arrested traveling on a flight from Tajikistan.

Shaikh's family says the small business owner from London was lured to China by two men who promised to help him launch a career in pop music.

A preliminary psychological report commissioned by Reprieve said Shaikh's actions "were most likely influenced by some form of delusional psychosis."

Britain has accused Chinese officials of not taking Shaikh's mental health concerns into account as required by law.

China says his case was handled according to law.

"Drug smuggling is a grave crime. The rights of the defendant have been fully guaranteed," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news conference last week.

Soohail Shaikh said his cousin has no prior criminal record. On his arrival in Beijing from Urumqi on Monday night, he said his cousin looked a bit weaker than when they last saw him two years ago.

"We feel a pardon would allow Akmal to get the medical assistance he needs as well as the healing love from his family," Soohail Shaikh said.

Two British diplomats were accompanying the brothers but said they were not authorized to speak to journalists.

Reprieve said Shaikh's legal options have been exhausted since the Supreme People's Court of China has rejected his appeal, and said his last chance appeared to be clemency. It has appealed to Chinese President Hu Jintao to grant Shaikh a pardon.

Calls to Urumqi's intermediate court, the Xinjiang government spokesman's office, and the Supreme Court in Beijing rang unanswered Monday.

In London, some of Shaikh's family members joined a vigil outside the Chinese Embassy. A cousin, Latif Shaikh, said Akmal Shaikh's mother, who is in her 80s, knows he's in prison but doesn't know he faces execution. He said he feared the shock could kill her.

___

Associated Press Writer Meera Selva in London contributed to this report.

Post: #6 (ID: 115674)

The only 'mental' problem this guy has is stupidity, if he expects anyone to believe that ridiculous story he's telling. Rolling Eyes

Post: #7 (ID: 115675)

By NG HAN GUAN, Associated Press Writer Ng Han Guan, Associated Press Writer – Tue Dec 29, 4:10 am ET

URUMQI, China – China brushed aside international appeals Tuesday and executed a British drug smuggler who relatives say was mentally unstable and unwittingly lured into crime.

Britain's prime minister quickly criticized the execution — China's first of a European citizen in nearly 60 years.

"I condemn the execution of Akmal Shaikh in the strongest terms, and am appalled and disappointed that our persistent requests for clemency have not been granted. I am particularly concerned that no mental health assessment was undertaken," Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

The press office of the Xinjiang region where Shaikh had been held confirmed the execution in a faxed statement.

Shaikh, 53, first learned he was about to be executed Monday from his visiting cousins, who made a last-minute plea for his life. They say he is mentally unstable and was lured to China from a life on the street in Poland by men playing on his dreams to record a pop song for world peace.

Brown had spoken personally to China's prime minister about his case. Foreign Secretary David Miliband also condemned the execution and said there were unanswered questions about the trial.

"I also deeply regret the fact that our specific concerns about the individual in this case were not taken into consideration ... These included mental health issues, and inadequate professional interpretation during the trial," Miliband said in a statement.

China defended the case and criticized Brown's comments, saying drug smuggling was a serious crime.

"We express our strong dissatisfaction and opposition to the British accusation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news conference.

Jiang said she hoped the case did not harm bilateral relations, and called on London not to create any "obstacles" to better ties.

Shaikh was arrested in 2007 for carrying a suitcase with almost 9 pounds (4 kilograms) of heroin into China on a flight from Tajikistan. He told Chinese officials he didn't know about the drugs and that the suitcase wasn't his, according to Reprieve, a London-based prisoner advocacy group that is helping with his case.

He was convicted in 2008 after a half-hour trial.

The official Xinhua News Agency quoted China's Supreme Court as saying Tuesday that although officials from the British Embassy and a British aid organization called for a mental health examination for Shaikh, "the documents they provided could not prove he had a mental disorder nor did members of his family have a history of mental disease."

"There is no reason to cast doubt on Akmal Shaikh's mental status," the Supreme Court was quoted as saying.

Xinhua said Shaikh was put to death by lethal injection. China, which executes more people than any other country, is increasingly doing so by lethal injection, although some death sentences are still carried out by a shot in the head.

The Beijing-based lawyer for Shaikh's death sentence review, Zhang Qingsong, said Tuesday he never got to meet with Shaikh despite asking the judge and the detention center for access. He said China's highest court never evaluated Shaikh's mental status.

According to Reprieve, the last European executed in China was Antonio Riva, an Italian pilot who was shot by a firing squad in 1951 after being convicted of involvement in what China said was a plot to assassinate Mao Zedong and other high-ranking communist officials.

"The death of Akmal Shaikh is a sad indictment of today's world, and particularly of China's legal system. ... We at Reprieve are sickened by what we have seen during our work on this case," said Sally Rowen, legal director of Reprieve's death penalty team.

Reprieve issued a statement from Shaikh's family members saying they expressed "their grief at the Chinese decision to refuse mercy."

___

Associated Press reporters Alexa Olesen and Cara Anna in Beijing contributed to this story.

jamie · Post: #8 (ID: 115676)

"I condemn the execution of Akmal Shaikh in the strongest terms, and am appalled and disappointed that our persistent requests for clemency have not been granted. I am particularly concerned that no mental health assessment was undertaken," Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

Of course Brown is unhappy - In the UK, this DRUG SMUGGLER would have been given 6 months in a work-release program, then turned loose. Rolling Eyes

Post: #9 (ID: 115677)

True true

Options · Post: #10 (ID: 115678)

Post: #11 (ID: 115679)

Yeah, he's going to get a recording contract in western China. uh-huh. Rolling Eyes

Yeah, he was given a whole suitcase of dope just to be 'set up'...um...Why would they want to set him up?

Aren't you charging Clarky interest?

Post: #12 (ID: 115680)

Besides-- China makes it quite clear that the penalty for drug possession or selling is DEATH!

Now, when you have a British citizen coming into the country with two kilos of Heroin, AND the government of the UK demands clemency, what do you think the Chinese reaction would be?

Memories of the Opium Wars are still strong there.

So this execution was just as much a message to the West as well as an enforcement of their own national law.

I personally can't believe that the old fellow was so stupid as to try something so dangerous. And I am amused that the UK thought they could effect anything by protesting in this case.

Post: #13 (ID: 115681)

Yeah, the opium wars was mentioned on the news.

And that amount clarkey owes me gets interest added automatically.. check the sig in a few days!