China executes Briton despite last-ditch pleas for clemency
Briton Akmal Shaikh has been executed in China early yesterday morning despite last minute pleas for clemency. The former taxi service manager, convicted of smuggling heroin, died just after 4am at Xishan detention centre in the western Urumqi province.
He was killed by lethal injection and buried immediately. Shaikh, who had mental health problems, was the first European citizen to be put to death in China for 50 years.
Akmal Shaikh pictured in Poland in 2007. He is due to be put to death in China after being convicted of smuggling 4 kilogrammes of heroin
The 53-year-old’s relatives issued a short statement in the wake of his death. “The family express their grief at the Chinese decision to refuse mercy,” they said.
Beijing remained defiant in the face of condemnation from the UK Government and human rights campaigners.
The Chinese embassy in London said Akmal Shaikh had “no previous medical record” of mental illness and that his rights and interests had been properly respected.
However, Prime Minister Gordon Brown immediately condemned the execution “in the strongest terms”.
The Prime Minister said: “I am appalled and disappointed that our persistent requests for clemency have not been granted. I am particularly concerned that no mental health assessment was undertaken.
“At this time our thoughts are with Mr Shaikh’s family and friends and I send them our sincere condolences.”
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband added: “The UK is completely opposed to the use of the death penalty in all circumstances. However I also deeply regret the fact that our specific concerns about the individual in this case were not taken into consideration despite repeated calls by the Prime Minister, ministerial colleagues and me.
‘These included mental health issues, and inadequate professional interpretation during the trial.”
The British government had made 27 representations to the Chinese authorities in connection with the case over the past two years.
Sally Rowen, legal director of charity Reprieve’s death penalty team, described Shaikh as a “gentle man who suffered from a tormenting illness”.
She said: “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. I am particularly concerned that no mental health assessment was undertaken.”
Supporters of Shaikh held a candlelight vigil outside London’s Chinese embassy on Monday night in a last-minute bid to save his life
Businessman Akmal Shaikh, a father of five from Kentish Town, North London, was arrested in September 2007 and convicted of trying to smuggle 4 kilogrammes of heroin, worth an estimated GBP 250,000, into the remote western Chinese city of Urumqi, 2,000 miles from Beijing. He insisted he was tricked into carrying the drug.
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