BEIJING, Jan 15, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – China on Tuesday vociferously defended
a court’s decision to impose the death penalty on a convicted Canadian drug
smuggler, escalating a diplomatic row that experts say has descended into a
high-stakes game of “hostage politics”.
China’s foreign ministry blasted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s
“irresponsible remarks” after he criticised the death sentence imposed on 36-
year-old Robert Lloyd Schellenberg.
Beijing and Ottawa have been squabbling since last month, when Canada
arrested the chief financial officer of top Chinese telecom company Huawei on
a US extradition request related to Iran sanctions violations.
In a move observers see as retaliation, Chinese authorities detained two
Canadian citizens — a former diplomat and a business consultant — on
suspicion of endangering national security.
Then authorities revisited the little-known case of Robert Lloyd
Schellenberg, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison in November for drug
offences.
A month later, an upper court took up his appeal and ordered a hasty
retrial in the northeastern port city of Dalian after ruling that the
punishment was too lenient.
The timing and swiftness of Schellenberg’s sentence, and the inclusion of
new evidence presenting him as a key player in a plan to ship 222 kilograms
(490 pounds) of methamphetamine to Australia, raised suspicion among
observers.
“Playing hostage politics, China rushes the retrial of a Canadian suspect
and sentences him to death in a fairly transparent attempt to pressure
Canada,” Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth said in a tweet.
Donald Clarke, a George Washington University professor specialising in
Chinese law, coined an even grimmer term for the situation: “death threat
diplomacy”.
“The Chinese government is not even trying to pretend that there was a
fair trial here,” he said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed “extreme concern” that
China had “chosen to arbitrarily” apply the death penalty.
But Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying denied Beijing had
politicised Schellenberg’s case, calling on Canada to “respect China’s
judicial sovereignty… and stop making such irresponsible remarks.”
Ottawa had issued a new travel advisory urging citizens to “exercise a
high degree of caution in China due to the risk of arbitrary enforcement of
local laws.”
Hua countered: “Canada should remind its own citizens to definitely not
engage in drug smuggling in China”.
The court in Liaoning on said its actions were “in compliance with the
provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law,” the state-run Legal Daily
reported.
– Suspect timing –
China executes one or two foreigners every year — nearly all for drug
offences, according to John Kamm, director of the US-based Dui Hua Foundation
rights group.
Experts said retrials are rare in China, especially ones calling for a
harsher sentence, but rights groups note that courts are not independent and
can be influenced by the ruling Communist Party.
“What’s unusual is how this case shifted from extremely slow handling to
suddenly rapid fire movement,” said Margaret Lewis, a law professor at Seton
Hall University.
The rare decision to allow three foreign journalists, including one from
AFP, to attend the hearing makes it “clear that the Chinese government wants
(the) international spotlight on this case.”
“The timing is suspect and certainly his nationality makes it all the more
glaring,” she said.
– Meng at home –
Schellenberg, who claimed he was innocent and framed by an acquaintance,
has 10 days to appeal to the same high court that rejected his first appeal.
Lewis said the court was likely to confirm the sentence and the case would
move up to the Supreme People’s Court.
The top court could confirm the death penalty, give him a two-year
suspended death sentence that would be converted into a long prison term or
reduce his punishment, she said.
Clarke said: “My prediction is that the Supreme People’s Court will sit on
the review decision for as long as Meng’s fate remains undetermined.”
The fate of the other two Canadians, who have been held in undisclosed
locations, remains a mystery.
Last week, Trudeau accused China of “arbitrarily and unfairly” detaining
former diplomat Michael Kovrig and business consultant Michael Spavor, who
were rounded up nine days after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng
Wanzhou.
The Chinese foreign ministry rejected Trudeau’s assertion that Kovrig, who
now works for the International Crisis Group, still enjoyed diplomatic
immunity.
Meng, meanwhile, was granted bail by a Canadian court last month, allowing
her to wait for the US extradition hearing in a Vancouver house.
Beijing on Tuesday repeated its calls for her immediate release, calling
on Canada to correct its “severe mistake”.