Akmal Shaikh

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Akmal Shaikh (born April 5, 1956 in Pakistan , † December 29, 2009 in Urumqi , People's Republic of China ) was a British citizen from Pakistan who was executed in China after being convicted of drug smuggling . According to the Reprieve , an organization fighting the death penalty , Shaikh was the first citizen of an EU state to be executed in China in over 50 years. Opponents of the execution said Shaikh suffered from a mental disorder and was deceived into transporting drugs.

Arrest and trial

Shaikh was arrested at Urumqi-Diwopu Airport on September 12, 2007 when his luggage was searched and found to be carrying four kilograms of heroin . Chinese criminal law provides for the death penalty for transporting more than 50 g of heroin. Shaikh said he was ignorant of the drugs. He is the victim of criminals who have faked him wanting to help him become a pop star and thereby tricked him into transporting a suitcase for them.

On October 29, 2008, Shaikh was sentenced to death by the Urumqi People's Tribunal in a half-hour trial . An appeal to the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China was dismissed on December 21, 2009. By October 2009, two appeals had been rejected. Shaikh's relatives said that during the entire time he was unaware that he was about to be executed and was only informed about it 24 hours before the execution.

The Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China has described his crime as extremely serious . None of the documents provided could prove a mental disorder for Shaikh or any of his family members.

Shaikh was executed with lethal injection on December 29, 2009 in Urumqi .

Reactions

The then British Prime Minister Gordon Brown expressed in a sharp criticism of the execution that he was particularly concerned that the state of mind of the condemned had not been assessed. China had rejected an appeal by Brown for mercy. According to a preliminary psychological assessment on behalf of the prisoners' aid organization Reprieve, Shaikh was "most likely influenced by some kind of delusional psychosis".

The EU said: “The European Union strongly condemns the execution of Akmal Shaikh. She deeply regrets the fact that China has ignored repeated calls by the European Union and one of its Member States for a commutation of the death penalty imposed on Mr Shaikh. "

The then UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions, Philip Alston , said: “According to our information, the first guilty verdict was based on a thirty minute trial, which does not indicate a due process, effective defense or evidence. We were also told that on appeal, requests for medical evidence to be presented, requests for the court to appoint an expert to assess Mr. Shaikh, were all rejected. It is therefore not very encouraging that the Chinese courts were so condescending on what was at least an initially strong argument. "

Jiang Yu , the spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, has described the British allegations as baseless and expressed China's determined opposition. She has asked Great Britain not to jeopardize bilateral relations. Wang Mingliang, a professor of criminal law at Fudan University , said the verdict was justified under Chinese criminal law and said it was unrelated to human rights issues. A country, Wang said, should respect the independence of the judiciary in other countries and not interfere in their internal affairs. Wang went on to say that a criminal cannot be exempted from the death penalty just because he is British and that the Shaikh case testifies to the justice of the Chinese judiciary, which deserves the full respect of other countries. The Chinese Embassy in London said in a statement: "The legal structures of China and the United Kingdom may differ, but this should not stand in the way of improving our bilateral relations on the basis of mutual respect." The embassy also cited "bitter memories." to history ”(referring to the Opium Wars of the 19th century) as a reason for the Chinese public's“ strong opposition ”to drug smugglers.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Capital punishment in China (English) . In: The Guardian , December 28, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2009. 
  2. ↑ a b Condemned Briton Akmal Shaikh 'not told execution date' (English) , BBC News. December 27, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2009. 
  3. ↑ a b c d La Cour populaire suprême de Chine approuve la peine de mort pour Akmal Shaikh (French) . In: Xinhua , December 29, 2009. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. 
  4. ↑ Vikran Dodd: Family plead for life of mentally ill Briton facing execution in China (English) . In: The Guardian , December 22, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2009. 
  5. ↑ a b China executes British taxi driver (German) . In: Tages-Anzeiger , December 29, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2009. 
  6. ↑ Vikram Dodd: Briton's death sentence upheld by China's supreme court (English) . In: The Guardian , December 21, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2009. 
  7. ↑ Akmal Shaikh told of execution for drug smuggling , BBC News. December 28, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2009. 
  8. ↑ British drug smuggler Executed after approval from the Supreme People's Court (English) . In: Xinhua , December 29, 2009. 
  9. ↑ Alexandra Topping: Fury as China executes British drug smuggler (English) . In: The Guardian , December 29, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2009. 
  10. ↑ Akmal Shaikh case: Briton executed in China (German) . In: Spiegel Online , December 29, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2009. 
  11. ↑ a b c China execution: International reaction , BBC News . December 29, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2009. 
  12. ↑ China opposes Britain's accusation of its handling of British drug smuggler (English) . In: Xinhua , December 29, 2009. Archived from the original on December 30, 2016. Retrieved on December 30, 2009. 
  13. ^ Experts defend China's execution of British drug smuggler (English) . In: Xinhua , December 29, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2009. 
  14. ↑ Akmal Shaikh: China refers to controversial Opium Wars with Britain , Telegraph. December 29, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2009. 
personal data
SURNAME Shaikh, Akmal
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British national, executed in China for drug trafficking
DATE OF BIRTH April 5th 1956
PLACE OF BIRTH Pakistan
DATE OF DEATH December 29, 2009
Place of death Urumqi , People's Republic of China