As of: 08/10/2021 8:41 am
A court in China has upheld the death penalty for a convicted Canadian drug smuggler. International human rights activists accuse the Chinese leadership of “holding the justice system hostage”.
The death sentence against Robert Schellenberg remains. A court in Liaoning, northern China, has rejected an appeal by the man in his late 30s. The Canadian was convicted of drug smuggling in November 2018. The sentence was initially 15 years in prison.
A few days later, the chief financial officer of the Chinese technology group Huawei was arrested in Vancouver, Canada and placed under house arrest. Shortly afterwards, a Chinese court increased the drug smuggling sentence against the Canadian Schellenberg to a death penalty. This judgment has now been confirmed.
Arbitrary arrests
Two other Canadian citizens are in jail in the People’s Republic for flimsy reasons, apparently in retaliation for the Huawei manager’s house arrest in Canada. The two men are called Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig. Canadian media reports that a verdict is expected against one of the two this week.
All over the world diplomats and human rights groups are protesting against the “hostage justice” and “hostage diplomacy” of the state and party leadership. The People’s Republic is a constitutional state on paper, but the judiciary is de facto subordinate to the Communist Party. Several states are now warning their citizens of the risk of arbitrary arrest in China.