China executed the British drug smugglers Akmal Shaikh

China has upheld the independence and integrity of its justice system, as would any other country, in the trial and execution of Akmal Shaikh, say legal experts. British drug smugglers,Akmal Shaikh
• China opposes UK's accusation of handling of smuggler
• British drug smuggler executed after approval

BEIJING URGED TO SPARE BRITON'S LIFE

By Geoff Dyer in Beijing 2009-12-29

Two relatives of a British man scheduled to be executed today in China for smuggling heroin made a last-minute appeal for clemency yesterday in a case that has drawn international condemnation of China's criminal justice ­system.

Akmal Shaikh is due to be executed in Urumqi, capital of China's north-western Xinjiang province, after the country's supreme court rejected his appeal last week. Appeals for leniency from Gordon Brown, the UK prime minister, have also been rejected.

According to human rights groups, Mr Shaikh, 53, would be the first European to be executed in China for more than half a century.

Mr Shaikh was arrested in September 2007 after being detained in Urumqi with 4kg of heroin in his suitcase. His family and lawyers claim that he suffers from mental illness and that he was duped into bringing the drugs into China.

“We strongly feel he is not rational and he needs medication,” his cousin Soohail Shaikh told Associated Press yesterday.

Although China does not publish figures on the death penalty, Amnesty International estimates there were at least 1,700 executions last year – the highest number in the world – and other human rights groups believe the real figures could be much higher.

Legal experts say that in the 1980s and 1990s, China increased the number of non-violent crimes that could receive a death ­penalty.

The death penalty has in recent years faced a concerted reform effort, including a 2006 decision that all death sentences would be reviewed by the supreme court. State media reported that the court overturned one in 10 of all death sentences last year. In July, a senior official at the supreme court said that in the future the death penalty should be reserved for a much smaller list of crimes and said that lower courts would be encouraged to issue more suspended sentences.

Although China's legal system does allow for mental illness to be taken into account in criminal cases, Mr Shaikh's family say that his mental condition has never been evaluated during the trial process and appeals. Reprieve, the UK prisoner advocacy group, arranged for a psychiatrist to attend the trial in Urumqi last year. However, he was not allowed to interview Mr Shaikh or attend the judicial hearing.

According to family members, Mr Shaikh – who says he did not know that drugs were in the suitcase – travelled to China in the belief that he was going to be helped to begin a career as a singer.

A few years earlier, he left the UK for Poland with the aim of starting an airline. A preliminary psychological report prepared by Reprieve concluded that he suffered from “delusional psychosis”.

China has defended the conviction, arguing that Mr Shaikh's legal rights were protected. “This case has been dealt with according to law. Drug smuggling is a grave crime in international practice,” said Jiang Yu, a spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry. “During the trial, the litigation rights and lawful interest of the defendant have been fully guaranteed.”

British drug smugglers,Akmal Shaikh

CHINA AND UK IN RIFT OVER DRUG EXECUTION

By Patti Waldmeir in Shanghai, and Jim Pickard and James Blitz in London 2009-12-30

Britain and China were yesterday engaged in a fierce diplomatic argument after the Chinese government executed a UK citizen for drug trafficking, in spite of claims he was mentally ill and unfit to stand trial.

In an act that was roundly condemned by Gordon Brown, Britain's prime minister, China executed Akmal Shaikh, a 53-year-old father of three, who was caught smuggling heroin into China.

Britain had long argued there were strong signs Mr Shaikh suffered from a mental condition and that this should have prompted an act of clemency.

Mr Brown said he condemned the execution “in the strongest terms” and was “particularly concerned that no mental health assessment was undertaken”.

The UK foreign office underscored its anger by formally summoning the Chinese ambassador in London to the foreign office for a confrontation with Ivan Lewis, one of its ministers.

Mr Lewis told the ambassador in a “difficult conversation” that China had “failed in its basic human rights responsibilities.”

British officials privately indicated that they were “realistic” about the nature of the case and did not believe it would undermine the deeper political and trading relationship between Britain and China.

China, however, reacted tough