Nonstopdrivel
15 years ago

29 December 2009 - 05H47


China executes British national accused of drug trafficking
 


By News Wires

REUTERS - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was appalled at China's execution of a British citizen caught smuggling heroin on Tuesday, prompting China to defend its judicial integrity and denounce interference.

Relatives of Akmal Shaikh, 53, and the British government had appealed for clemency, arguing the former businessman suffered from bipolar disorder, or manic depression.

The Chinese Supreme Court rejected the appeal, saying there was insufficient evidence of mental illness, and the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Shaikh had been given all due legal rights.

Brown condemned the execution, carried out in the far-west region of Xinjiang, in strong words that may raise diplomatic temperatures over the case.

"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," he said in a statement issued by the British Foreign Office.

"I am particularly concerned that no mental health assessment was undertaken."

China was just as determined in its defence of the execution.

"Nobody has the right to speak ill of China's judicial sovereignty," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said. "We express our strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition over the groundless British accusations. We urge the British side to mend its errors and avoid damaging China-British relations."

Shaikh would be the first European citizen to be executed in China since 1951, Western rights groups say. China executes more people than any other country, with about 1,718 executions in 2008 far surpassing Iran at 346 and the United States at 111.

Shaikh was still "hopeful" when relatives met him in Urumqi this weekend, his cousin Soohail Shaikh told reporters at Beijing airport late on Monday night.

The case could harden public opinion in Britain against China. It could also rile Chinese resentful over what Beijing often calls "interference" in China's internal affairs and mindful of humiliating defeats by Britain during the Opium Wars in the 1800s which led to the granting of Hong Kong island to Britain.

"We hope that the British side can view this matter rationally, and not create new obstacles in bilateral relations... This is an isolated criminal case unrelated to other matters," Jiang said.

Britain is China's third-largest trade partner in Europe, with total trade of $45 billion in 2008. The two countries recently traded accusations over the troubled Copenhagen climate change negotiations.

Heroin use is a major problem in Xinjiang, which borders Central Asia. The region was convulsed by ethnic violence and protests in July, with further protests in September after widespread panic over alleged syringe attacks.

All executions in Urumqi have used lethal injections in recent years, said a detention centre official surnamed Jia. Shaikh's defenders, including British rights group Reprieve which lobbies against the death penalty, say he was tricked into smuggling the heroin by a gang who promised to make him a pop star.

Arrested in 2007, a Chinese court rejected his final appeal on Dec. 21. Reprieve posted on the Internet a recording Shaikh made of a song, "Come Little Rabbit", which it described as "dreadful" but which Shaikh believed would be an international hit and help bring about world peace.

"This is not about how much we hate the drug trade. Britain as well as China are completely committed to take it on," British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said in a statement emailed to reporters. "The issue is whether Mr Shaikh has become an additional victim of it."


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Cheesey
15 years ago
This shows you what communism gets you.
The way we are losing our freedoms, i can see this country there some day.
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dfosterf (2h) : Semper fi !
Cheesey (4h) : This is why I have so much respect for those that have gone through battles
Cheesey (4h) : I can't even imagine what that would have been like
wpr (8h) : "Come on, you sons of bitches. Do you want to live forever?"
wpr (8h) : Facing a line of machine guns 2 time medal of Honor recipient, First Sergeant Dan Daly told his men,
wpr (8h) : Another detachment went into the Belleau Wood.
wpr (8h) : On the 6th the Marines took Hill 142 but suffered terrible losses.
wpr (8h) : It’s time to remember dfoster’s Marine brothers in Belleau Wood. The battle went on from June 1-26. Nearly 10,000 casualties.
packerfanoutwest (22h) : Nick Collins and Morgan Burnett have signed with the PACK
packerfanoutwest (22h) : he won't be wearing #12, maybe he will wear number two
packerfanoutwest (22h) : He will fail this season, should have retired
Mucky Tundra (23h) : Thus the cycle of Hall of Fame Packer QBs going to the Jets and then the Vikings is broken
bboystyle (5-Jun) : Rodgers to steelers on 1 year contract
Zero2Cool (5-Jun) : It's the cycle of civilizations. Get lazier, lazier, softer, softer and vanish.
Martha Careful (5-Jun) : great point. every aspect of society, including art, culture and sports has degraded.
dfosterf (4-Jun) : Green Bay sweep meant something to society about stopping pure excellence. We have the tush push now
dfosterf (4-Jun) : We old Martha.
Martha Careful (4-Jun) : *front four
Martha Careful (4-Jun) : Re frout four, I wish we had some Green "People Eaters" or a fearsome foursome
dfosterf (4-Jun) : *directions*
dfosterf (4-Jun) : Just don't ask him for driving direct
dfosterf (4-Jun) : Jim Marshall was an all-time great DE for the Purple People Eaters. Didn't like him. That's a compliment. RIP
Zero2Cool (3-Jun) : ooppppss
Zero2Cool (3-Jun) : “Kenny Clark played all of last season hurt by the way and got surgery to fix it in January”
Mucky Tundra (3-Jun) : @ByRyanWood How much did the injury affect him last fall? “A lot.”
Mucky Tundra (3-Jun) : @ByRyanWood Kenny Clark said he had foot surgery in January. Injured his foot in opener against Eagles and played through it all year.
Zero2Cool (3-Jun) : Golden is wearing guardian cap again. I bet he plays with it on too.
Mucky Tundra (3-Jun) : All the stuff I'm reading from Lions fans are pointing at his toe; he more or less has permanent turf toe in one of his big toes
dfosterf (3-Jun) : Kenny played through it, and a shame he gets little credit for that, imo
dfosterf (3-Jun) : Big men. I hope it's not the undoing of Kenny Clark
dfosterf (3-Jun) : Probably his toe. Pretty much a great center. Toe injuries are brutal to bigen
Mucky Tundra (2-Jun) : Lions All-Pro C Frank Ragnow retires
wpr (30-May) : It's all good.
beast (30-May) : Yeah, and I enjoyed your comments and just attempted to add to it. Sorry if I did it incorrectly.
wpr (30-May) : Beast I never said Henderson was the salt of the earth. Nor even that he was correct. Just quoting the guy.
Zero2Cool (29-May) : What did you do??
Zero2Cool (29-May) : Whoa
beast (29-May) : OMG the website is now all white, even some white on white text
beast (29-May) : Henderson, who admits to taking cocaine during the Super Bowl against the Steelers, might dislike Bradshaw as he lost two Superbowls to him
wpr (28-May) : Hollywood Henderson said Bradshaw “is so dumb, he couldn't spell 'cat' if you spotted him the C and an A.”
Mucky Tundra (28-May) : Cooper stock=BUY BUY BUY
Mucky Tundra (28-May) : Also notes he’s playing with more confidence.
Mucky Tundra (28-May) : @AndyHermanNFL MLF says there was a time last year where Cooper was at 220 pounds. Now he’s at 240 and still flying around.
Mucky Tundra (28-May) : And don't even get me started on Frank Caliendos "impersonations"
Mucky Tundra (28-May) : I got tired of them being circle jerks with them overlaughing at each others jokes.
Zero2Cool (28-May) : It used to be must watch TV for me. now it's "meh" maybe to hear injury update
Mucky Tundra (28-May) : I haven't watched the pregame shows in years and I don't feel like I've missed a thing
Zero2Cool (28-May) : Love says knee affected him all season, groin injury didn't help matters.
Zero2Cool (28-May) : I used to enjoy him on FOX Pregame. Now it's like a frat party of former Patriots.
Zero2Cool (28-May) : LaFleur on Watson: “Christian is doing outstanding. I would say he’s ahead of schedule.”
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