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Shaikh has denied all knowledge of the heroin, and it is claimed that he was duped into carrying the drugs as an unwitting [[Mule (smuggling)|mule]] after falling for a [[confidence trick]] in which a gang of fraudsters pretended they would help Shaikh become a [[pop star]].<ref name="guardian-22dec09">{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/22/akmal-shaikh-china-execution|title=Family plead for life of mentally ill Briton facing execution in China|last=Dodd|first=Vikran|date=22 December 2009|publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=26 December 2009}}</ref>
Shaikh has denied all knowledge of the heroin, and it is claimed that he was duped into carrying the drugs as an unwitting [[Mule (smuggling)|mule]] after falling for a [[confidence trick]] in which a gang of fraudsters pretended they would help Shaikh become a [[pop star]].<ref name="guardian-22dec09">{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/22/akmal-shaikh-china-execution|title=Family plead for life of mentally ill Briton facing execution in China|last=Dodd|first=Vikran|date=22 December 2009|publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=26 December 2009}}</ref>


An appeal to the [[Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China|Chinese Supreme Court]] failed on 21 December 2009 and Shaikh is due to be executed, either by [[lethal injection]] or [[firing squad]], at 10:30 [[China standard time]] (02:30 [[GMT]]) on 29 December 2009.<ref name="guardian-appeal">{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/21/briton-death-sentence-confirmed-china|title=Briton's death sentence upheld by China's supreme court|last=Dodd|first=Vikram|date=21 December 2009|publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=26 December 2009}}</ref> Shaikh remained unaware of his impending execution throughout this time<ref name="unaware1">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8431750.stm|title= Condemned Briton Akmal Shaikh 'not told execution date'|date=27 December 2009|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=28 December 2009}}</ref> and was informed that he was to be executed 24 hours in advance of the scheduled execution.<ref name="unaware2">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8432351.stm|title= Akmal Shaikh told of execution for drug smuggling|date=28 December 2009|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=28 December 2009}}</ref> His visiting cousins said he was "obviously very upset" at the news. Shaikh is currently imprisoned in a secure hospital. The execution method used will either be [[Firing squad]] or [[Lethal injection]].
An appeal to the [[Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China|Chinese Supreme Court]] failed on 21 December 2009 and Shaikh is due to be executed, either by [[lethal injection]] or [[firing squad]], at 10:30 [[China standard time]] (02:30 [[GMT]]) on 29 December 2009.<ref name="guardian-appeal">{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/21/briton-death-sentence-confirmed-china|title=Briton's death sentence upheld by China's supreme court|last=Dodd|first=Vikram|date=21 December 2009|publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=26 December 2009}}</ref> Shaikh remained unaware of his impending execution throughout this time<ref name="unaware1">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8431750.stm|title= Condemned Briton Akmal Shaikh 'not told execution date'|date=27 December 2009|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=28 December 2009}}</ref> and was informed that he was to be executed 24 hours in advance of the scheduled execution.<ref name="unaware2">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8432351.stm|title= Akmal Shaikh told of execution for drug smuggling|date=28 December 2009|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=28 December 2009}}</ref> His visiting cousins said he was "obviously very upset" at the news. Shaikh is currently imprisoned in a secure hospital.


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.
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.

Revision as of 22:00, 28 December 2009

Akmal Shaikh
StatusImprisoned in the People's Republic of China, awaitiing execution
OccupationTaxi driver
ChildrenFive
Conviction(s)Guilty
Criminal chargeDrug trafficking
PenaltyDeath by firing squad or lethal injection

Akmal Shaikh is a British national, born in Pakistan, who has been held in prison in the People's Republic of China under charges of drug trafficking and faces the death penalty. Opponents of his execution claim he suffers from mental illness and was tricked into carrying drugs. Shaikh is currently being held in a secure hospital in Ürümqi and he is due to be executed at 10:30 China standard time (02:30 GMT) on 29 December 2009.

Background

Shaikh reportedly had ambitions to become a pop star and travelled widely. In Poland, he met a musician named Carlos and together they wrote a song which they hoped to record. Carlos led Shaikh to believe that he had contacts in the music industry who could help them to record the song and make Shaikh famous, and he sent Shaikh to Kyrgyzstan. A man purporting to be the owner of a nightclub in China accompanied Shaikh there, and promised him an opportunity to perform at the club. In Tajikistan, the putative nightclub owner arranged accommodation for them both in a five-star hotel, which reinforced Shaikh's impression that he was living a celebrity lifestyle.[1]

On 12 September 2007, Akmal Shaikh flew from Dushanbe, in Tajikistan, to Ürümqi, in north west China, in order to launch his pop career.

Arrest and trial

Shaikh was arrested in September 2007 at Ürümqi Airport 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.[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, at 10:30 China standard time (02:30 GMT) on 29 December 2009.[3] Shaikh remained unaware of his impending execution throughout this time[4] and was informed that he was to be executed 24 hours in advance of the scheduled execution.[5] His visiting cousins said he was "obviously very upset" at the news. Shaikh is currently imprisoned in a secure hospital.

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 there is evidence that he suffers from a form of bipolar disorder, and that his delusions of pop stardom are symptomatic of his condition. The disorder is also said to make him especially susceptible to confidence tricks such as the one which led him to carry heroin.[1] The case has attracted support from the United Nations,[6] 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[7] (himself a sufferer of bipolar disorder).[8][9] Two of Shaikh's cousins flew to Ürümqi on 27 December 2009 to join British Embassy officials in delivering pleas for clemency to the President of China, Hu Jintao.[10]

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.[11]

See also

  • Antonio Riva, an Italian executed in China in 1951
  • Wo Weihan, a Chinese Man whose daughters are of Austrian nationality, executed in 2008 for spying for Taiwan and the US intelligence agencies
  • Come little Rabbit - Akmal Shaikh's song recording which he hoped would propel him to pop stardom

References

  1. ^ a b "Cases - Akmal Shaikh". Reprieve (campaigning organisation). Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  2. ^ Dodd, Vikran (22 December 2009). "Family plead for life of mentally ill Briton facing execution in China". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  3. ^ Dodd, Vikram (21 December 2009). "Briton's death sentence upheld by China's supreme court". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  4. ^ "Condemned Briton Akmal Shaikh 'not told execution date'". BBC News. 27 December 2009. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
  5. ^ "Akmal Shaikh told of execution for drug smuggling". BBC News. 28 December 2009. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
  6. ^ "U.N. official urges China not to execute Briton". CNN. 24 December 2009. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  7. ^ "Stephen Fry pleads for the life of fellow bipolar sufferer Akmal Shaikh". Reprieve. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  8. ^ Llewellyn, Gareth (21 October 2009). "Mentally ill Briton 'could be executed within days'". The Independent. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  9. ^ "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.
  10. ^ Batty, David (28 December 2009). "Family visit death row Briton in China". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
  11. ^ "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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