China's execution of Akmal Shaikh enrages British leaders
World
China's execution of Akmal Shaikh enrages British leaders
Britain's Foreign Office minister said it was a deeply depressing day after China executed a Briton caught smuggling heroin on Tuesday, prompting China to denounce British accusations and defend its court system. Foreign Office minister, Ivan Lewis said his thoughts were with Shaikhs family. Anybody with a modicum of compassion or commitment to justice in Britain or around the world will be very very saddened by this decision by the Chinese. Our thoughts are with Mr. Shaikhs family. It cannot be right, it is reprehensible to put to death a man with mental health problems, he said.Lewis added that evidence had been provided to the Chinese on Shaikhs state of mind and his horror at the Chinese refusal to carry out their own assessment. Relatives of Akmal Shaikh, 53, and the British government had appealed for clemency, arguing the former businessman suffered from bipolar disorder, or manic depression. China's Supreme Court rejected the appeal, saying there was insufficient evidence of mental illness. British Prime Minister Gordon 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. Lewis added to gain the respect of the international community China needed to subscribe to basic standards to human rights. China was just as determined in its defence of the execution. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Jiang Yu said China expressed its strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition over the groundless British accusations. Shaikh was executed by injection, China's official Xinhua news agency reported. His family said it was stunned and disappointed and criticised China's stance on his mental health. We are astonished at suggestions that Akmal himself should have provided evidence of his own fragile state of mind, they said in a statement. Shaikh's defenders, including British rights group Reprieve which lobbies against the death penalty, say he was duped into smuggling heroin by a gang who promised to make him a pop star. Reprieve spokeswoman Sally Bowen explained the efforts made to get an assessment of Shaikh, right up to the last day. Reprieve, who are a charity, paid to fly Doctor Sharpefeld out to China earlier in the year on receipt of assurances that the Psychologist could see and evaluate him. And when he got there he was refused so he had to turn around and come home again. They then promised to conduct an evaluation themselves and then they reneged on that. Dr Sharpefeld volunteered to go out on boxing day and to conduct a last minute evaluation assessment of Akmal Shaikh and again the Chinese refused that. They did not have evidence because they did not want any, she said.Reprieve posted on the Internet a recording Shaikh made of a song, Come Little Rabbit, which which Shaikh believed would be an international hit and help bring about world peace. Shaikh was 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, according to Amnesty International. China does not release an official count of its executions.
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