BEIJING – A Chinese court upheld the death sentence passed on a Canadian citizen for drug smuggling – one of a number of ongoing cases that have triggered a severe downturn in relations between Beijing and Ottawa.
Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was originally sentenced to 15 years in prison in late 2018, but the sentence was changed to the death penalty just months later, after a deepening diplomatic rift exploded between the two countries.
The Liaoning Province Higher People’s Court in a statement said both the verdict and sentence have been upheld.
“The facts found in the first trial are clear, the evidence is reliable and sufficient, the conviction is accurate, the sentence is appropriate, and the trial procedures, legal.”
The Canadian ambassador to China hit out at the ruling.
“We condemn the verdict in the strongest possible terms and call on China to grant Schellenberg clemency,” said Dominic Barton, who attended the appeal hearing in the north-eastern city of Shenyang.
“We have repeatedly expressed our strong opposition to this cruel and inhumane punishment to China, and we will continue to do so,” he added.
In December 2018, relations between the two countries deteriorated after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, a Chinese telecoms giant Huawei top executive on a United States warrant.
China quickly followed suit by arresting two other Canadian citizens on spying charges, drawing further condemnation from Ottawa.
China abruptly revised Schellenberg’s sentence to the death penalty in January 2019, saying the original sentence was too lenient.
This prompted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to express “extreme concern”, saying China has “arbitrarily” imposed the death penalty on Schellenberg.
Barton said a ruling is expected tomorrow in the case of Michael Spavor – a businessman, who was one of the two Canadians detained for espionage by China.
Spavor and Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, were both tried in March, but no decision has been announced.
Barton said he will be travelling to the northern city of Dandong today to meet with Spavor.
The embassy has received no word on any ruling for Kovrig, he added. – AFP, August 10, 2021
