Recently, a British drug smuggler’s death sentence was upheld by the Supreme People’s Court in China. News on Xinhuanet.com:
Death penalty on British drug dealer in line with Chinese law: spokesman
BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) — Chinese court’s sentence of death penalty on a British drug trafficker is in line with Chinese laws, said a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday.
Akmal Shaikh, 53, male, was sentenced to death in the first instance trial by the Intermediate People’s Court of Urumqi Municipality in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Oct. 29, 2008, said Ma Zhaoxu, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at a regular news briefing.
The case is currently being reviewed by China’s Supreme People’s Court, Ma said.
“All the procedures have been in line with relevant Chinese laws. During the trial, The accused and the counsel had freely exercised their rights of defense, and translation service had been provided to the accused. His legal rights had been fully guaranteed,” he said.
According to Ma, the British embassy in China and a British organization had proposed to organize mental disease examinations on Akmal Shaikh, while offering no evidence that he may be suffering from mental disease.
The accused had said that he and his family members had no history of mental diseases, Ma said.
The case is under examination, he said.
So what do Chinese people think of the sentence online? A survey from Huanqiu.com shows that among the netizens who took the survey:
- 98.8% (3528 votes) support the Supreme People’s Court's sentence;
- 96.7% (3737 votes) think the British media is interfering in China's internal affairs.
In another survey that asks "What do you think of British media's report on this incident":
- 53.9% (1924 votes) think these reports show Britain still has an outdated colonial mindset;
- 30.1% (1074 votes) think the British media is using "human rights" as an excuse;
- 16.0% (569 votes) think they are sensationalizing this incident with malicious intentions.
English coverage can be found on Google News.
Following are some translated Chinese comments from various source:
From Huanqiu.com:
Of course I support. No matter if he's Chinese or a foreigner, on Chinese land, he should obey Chinese laws.
Mercy to drug smugglers is a crime against the people.
People's rights are based on the fact that everyone should be equal in front of laws. If we released this British criminal, what should we do to Chinese drug dealers? Should we abandon the death penalty? These scrum [drug dealers] would even risk their lives to smuggle drugs. If there's no death penalty, what will they be afraid of?
So if Hitler had "delusional psychosis and bipolar disorder", why do British people dig him from his grave every year [sarcasm]? That's so "lack of human rights".
The Chinese government should not pay much attention to British pressure. Drug smugglers deserve death penalty.
PRC government is not the same government in Qing Dynasty. We have judicial supremacy.
British dude, do you know? In ancient China the law is much more cruel. If you cheat in an exam, you die.
From Netease.com:
From Chengdu, Sichuan:
Britain should thank us for saving them from yet another drug dealer.
From Guangzhou, Guangdong:
The one who has "delusional psychosis and bipolar disorder" is the British media.
From Nanjing, Jiangsu:
International drug smugglers come commit crimes against the Chinese people. One comes, we kill one. Two come, we shoot a pair. Bullets for these scum are plenty. I support the Supreme People’s Court's sentence. He should pay a price for violating Chinese laws.
From Changsha:
What he's sentenced with is not the death sentence but loneliness.
From Qinzhou:
Akmal must die. We are collecting signatures to support his death penalty.
From Macfans.com.cn:
Ghmily from Guangzhou:
Wow! Four kilograms! And he put 4k heroin in his hand band just like that and tried to enter China? Is that too ignorant/arrogant?
Bfee:
I'm fed up with those people who use "mental disorder" as an excuse [to evade punishment from laws]. If you are mentally sick you don't have to pay a price for your crime? Everyone on the planet has some level of "disorder" in mind so we are all free from responsibilities …
Spirit of Six Strings:
[He] should be executed in public. "Pong" and China’s drug smuggling will drop by 30% immediately. Or we inject all 4kg heroin into his vein at once. If he can still survive then we let him go.
Jambillking:
4 kg! He deserves several deaths. [Smuggling 50 gram heroin is the threshold for a death penalty in China.]
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