Akmal Shaikh: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 13:05, 27 December 2009
Akmal Shaikh | |
|---|---|
| Status | Imprisoned in the People's Republic of China, awaitiing execution |
| Occupation | Taxi driver |
| Children | Five |
| Conviction(s) | Guilty |
| Criminal charge | Drug trafficking |
| Penalty | Death by firing squad or lethal injection |
Akmal Shaikh is a British national who has been held in prison in the People's Republic of China under charges of drug trafficking and faces the death penalty in December 2009. Opponents of his execution claim he suffers from mental illness and was tricked into carrying drugs.
Arrest and trial
Shaikh was arrested in September 2007 at Ürümqi Airport, north-west China, when a baggage search revealed he was carrying 4 kilograms (9 lb) of heroin. The Chinese criminal code provides the death penalty for smuggling heroin in quantities more than 50 grams (2 oz), and Shaikh was sentenced to death.
Shaikh has denied all knowledge of the heroin, and it is claimed that he was duped into carrying the drugs as an unwitting mule after falling for a confidence trick in which a gang of fraudsters pretended they would help Shaikh become a pop star.[1][2]
An appeal to the Chinese Supreme Court failed on 21 December 2009 and Shaikh is due to be executed, either by lethal injection or firing squad, on 29 December 2009.[3] If the execution goes ahead, Shaikh will be the first national of a European Union country to be executed in China in over 50 years.
Clemency campaign
Campaigners for the release of Shaikh say that he suffers from a form of bipolar disorder and is especially susceptible to confidence tricks such as the one which led him to carry heroin, and to delusional thoughts. The case has attracted support from the United Nations,[4] various human rights organisations (including Reprieve and Amnesty International) and mental health charities, as well as from notable individuals such as the prime minister of the United Kingdom, Gordon Brown, and actor Stephen Fry (himself a sufferer of bipolar disorder).[5][6]
The Chinese Embassy in London has issued a statement about the case, citing the obligations of the People's Republic of china to United Nations Conventions against Illicit Drug Trafficking and the need to punish the "grave crime" of drug smuggling. The embassy statement guarantees Shaikh's rights and interests under Chinese law.[7]
See also
- Antonio Riva, an Italian executed in China in 1951
References
- ^ "Cases - Akmal Shaikh". Reprieve (campaigning organisation). Retrieved 26 December 2009.
- ^ Dodd, Vikran (22 December 2009). "Family plead for life of mentally ill Briton facing execution in China". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
- ^ Dodd, Vikram (21 December 2009). "Briton's death sentence upheld by China's supreme court". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
- ^ "U.N. official urges China not to execute Briton". CNN. 24 December 2009. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
- ^ Llewellyn, Gareth (21 October 2009). "Mentally ill Briton 'could be executed within days'". The Independent. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
- ^ "Stephen Fry begs China to spare life of mentally ill Briton facing death by firing squad". Daily Mail. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
- ^ "Statement of the Spokesman of Chinese Embassy on the Case of Akmal Shaikh". Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United Kingdom. 24 December 2009. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
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