Family shocked at Shaikh execution

Dec 29 2009

The family of a Briton executed by lethal injection for drug smuggling spoke of their shock at his death as China came under attack from the UK Government.

Brothers Soohail and Nasir Shaikh, speaking on behalf of the family of their cousin Akmal Shaikh, said they were "deeply saddened, stunned and disappointed" by the execution of their "beloved cousin" in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Both men had travelled to China to visit their Mr Shaikh in prison and to make a last-minute plea for clemency from the authorities.

Mr Shaikh, 53, from Kentish Town, north London, who was arrested in Urumqi, north west China, in September 2007, was convicted of smuggling 4kg (8.8lb) of heroin into the country. But it is widely believed by his family and supporters that he was seriously mentally ill and was duped into carrying the drugs unknowingly by a gang.

Campaigners said the courts in China failed to commission an assessment of his medical condition in spite of his obvious mental illness, believed to be bipolar disorder.

In a statement issued through the human rights group Reprieve, Soohail and Nasir Shaikh said the execution was carried out despite repeated requests for clemency and a proper appraisal of their cousin's mental state.

They said: "We are astonished at suggestions that Akmal himself should have provided evidence of his own fragile state of mind. We find it ludicrous that any mentally ill person should be expected to provide this, especially when this was apparently bipolar disorder, in which we understand the sufferer has a distorted view of the world, including his own condition.

"That this was regarded as sufficient grounds for refusal by the judicial authorities to order any mental health assessment is shocking to us. Despite our own and other pleas, the Chinese authorities have maintained their refusal to investigate Akmal's mental health."

The execution sparked condemnation from Gordon Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband, with Foreign Office Minister Ivan Lewis declaring that it made him feel "sick to the stomach". Mental health campaigners condemned the death, with one charity describing it as a "medieval rough justice".

But the criticism sparked irritation in China, with Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu telling a press briefing in Beijing: "No one has the right to comment on China's judicial sovereignty. It is the common wish of people around the world to strike against the crime of drug trafficking.

"We express our strong dissatisfaction and opposition to the British Government's unreasonable criticism of the case. We urge the British to correct their mistake in order to avoid harming China-UK relations."