Akmal Shaikh - China executes mentally ill Briton

[BradK]

Akmal Shaikh, a British bi-polar sufferer who was homeless in Poland, was lured to China with dreams of becoming an international popstar - and incidently carried 4kg of heroin into China on the way to his dream.

Despite the most strident appeals from the British government, he was executed yesterday by the Chinese. The basis of the British objection was that he was:

a) he suffers from bi-polar disorder and that it is against UN convention to execute the mentally ill - in addition, during the two years of his incarceration, no attempt was made to give him medical help nor was a mental health assessment carried out.
b) the original trial, which handed down the death sentence, went for 30 minutes - casting strong doubt on the ability of the Chinese prosecutors to give sufficient evidence, nor Shaikh to have sufficient defence.

Now, most readers of British newspapers have very little sympathy with the chap - saying that 4kg of herion rips through about 28,000 families (not sure how they came across this statistic), ruining lives, and they think he is the scum of the earth and he should be put to death.


On the other side, is this going to hurt China's standing in the world? Or will the world forget about it 2 days? Does the UK-Chinese relationship matter than much to the Chinese anyway?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...ck-in-row-over-britons-execution-1852307.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/29/akmal-shaikh-execution-china-drugs

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6970479.ece

Also, following the story over the past few days, I realise that Rupert's papers - news.com.au and London's Times Online cared very little for the story on humanitarian grounds, and are now only getting onto it as a diplomatic incident.

Brad

 

[Bushman]

Gordon Brown is dreaming if he thinks the Chinese government give two hoots about British outrage. It is not the 19th century Gordon! The Brits have a notorious imperial track record in China too which would not be helping in British-Sino relations.

As for a bullet to the back of the head for drug mule with a mental illness, seems a case of heaping misery on misery. However 4 kg of heroin is not simply a backpacker being caught with a few spliffs.

 

[wayneL]

Gordon Brown is dreaming if he thinks the Chinese government give two hoots about British outrage. It is not the 19th century Gordon! The Brits have a notorious imperial track record in China too which would not be helping in British-Sino relations.

As for a bullet to the back of the head for drug mule with a mental illness, seems a case of heaping misery on misery. However 4 kg of heroin is not simply a backpacker being caught with a few spliffs.

Being a delusional sociopath himself, I guess Gordo must feel some empathy for the man.

 

[lukeaye]

Well i beleive you have this all wrong.

You know why nobody will care?

Look at this name, he is clearly islamic.

Even i have been desensitised to this. I hear of something bad happen to muslims and i feel nothing.

 

[Fishbulb]

Who gives a rats about the UN or their dumbarse charter in the first place?

Then, why are people surprised by what a sovereign country does within its own borders? And after that, mental or not, he was sprung with four k of smack.

Outrage? Nah...one man's life versus what's happening the world over on any given day.

If they're going to get into the outrageous, then pull the Chinese up on Tibet or what happened during their great leap forward or the cultural revolution.

 

[lukeaye]

Well i think the moral of the story is,

if your going to smuggle anything into China, you better make damn sure its rice

 

[Julia]

Looking at it from yet another point of view, if he were to have been let off, that would have sent the message that all you needed to do to not be punished for trafficking heroin is to appear mentally ill.

If he had bipolar, then I'd be surprised if that prevented him from understanding that he was actually carrying drugs and was doing something illegal. Bipolar doesn't imply being out of touch with reality.

 

[sam76]

Looking at it from yet another point of view, if he were to have been let off, that would have sent the message that all you needed to do to not be punished for trafficking heroin is to appear mentally ill.

If he had bipolar, then I'd be surprised if that prevented him from understanding that he was actually carrying drugs and was doing something illegal. Bipolar doesn't imply being out of touch with reality.

My sentiments exactly.

The dude tried to import 4kgs of Heroin into a country that has the death penalty for this kind of stuff.

He got caught.

He was punished.

Enough said.

Too many bloody lefties in postions of authority these days.

 

[maomao]

If he had been mentally ill for years, where was the British government and his family? He wouldn't be homeless in another country and become a target of drug dealers if he was looked after properly. It's his government and family who failed him.

 

[Fishbulb]

If he had been mentally ill for years, where was the British government and his family? He wouldn't be homeless in another country and become a target of drug dealers if he was looked after properly. It's his government and family who failed him.

You can't physically restrain an adult. He failed himself.

 

[pilots]

Who paid for the air ticket, looks to me he was a drug mule who got caught, bet he won't will try that again.

 

[lasty]

Amnesty international and the UN need to look at the majority of human rights.
That is us who are frustrated by the level of violence in our streets.
So next time you see an Amnesty International charity collector or a UN official remind them with a punch that they should be protecting the majority and not some drug mule.
More people die from drugs each year than Chinese executions.
Once again the pinkos don't have a clue the dole bludging bastards.

 

[nunthewiser]

Next Tuesday at 10pm there will be a candlelight vigil in Trafalgar Square in benefit of Akmal Shaikh .

Please bring a salad and a lighter .

Thankyou.

 

[BradK]

Here is a letter to the Guardian just published written by two of his cousins.

They criticise the media, Reprieve (the humanitarian body who was trying to get him off), British economic dependence on China and its now subservient place in the world and the failure of British diplomacy.

Anyway... over to the cousins...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2009/dec/30/akmal-shaikh-china-execution-human-rights


We were deeply angered and disgusted at the execution of our cousin Akmal Shaikh, whose mental illness was not taken into account in his court hearing (Fury as China refuses to pardon death row Briton, 29 December). We were shocked that, apart from Sky News, his case received only sporadic media attention during his two years in prison. Only when news was released of his imminent execution did it get the coverage it deserved. Wouldn't more media attention at an earlier stage have applied more pressure to the Chinese authorities? Wasn't this lack of coverage an injustice in itself?

Though we are indebted to Reprieve and others for the efforts they made on our cousin's behalf, we were not comfortable with the strategy pursued; but we didn't say anything as we respected the wishes of those concerned. We understand the strategy was based on expert advice that, as the Chinese regime is a brutal one, the best approach is to not criticise it as this may make things worse.

But didn't Moazzam Begg's father voice his criticism towards the US while he was campaigning for his son's release?

One of the justifications we are told for invading countries like Afghanistan is "human rights violations". If it is accepted by all that there are gross violations taking place in China, why aren't they too invaded? This is purely to do with the fact that China is a powerful country economically. Britain's economic dependence far outweighs these "individual cases".

Did the British government pull out its diplomats in protest? Did it have a hard-hitting strategy to persuade the Chinese authorities to change their decision?

This is an example of Britain's powerlessness in the world. Their strategy of being shoulder to shoulder with the US in the "war on terror" has not given them the status they so desperately desire.

We are not mourning simply for our cousin as a lot of other people, including Muslims in China, have experienced and will continue to experience the same fate, without any real justification; our hearts pour out to them too.

Amina Shaikh and Ridwan Shaikh

 

[BradK]

... see post above... guess the family have nothing to lose now and can say what they bloody well please about their adopted homeland.

 

[BradK]

And on all things British diplomatic, Iran have come out and said that London deserves a 'punch in the mouth' over its role a 'chief culprit' in the latest Iranian upsurge in violence.

... dont want to get off topic... perhaps this belongs in the Iranian Civil War thread.

Dear dear old chaps, the British really are coming down in the stakes, aren't they?

Brad

 

[BradK]

Robert Fisk, I believe one of the world's remaining brilliant journalists, is wondering aloud why no Muslim clerics came to Akmal Shaikh's defence?

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinio...-akmal-shaikhs-life-to-be-spared-1852825.html

Brad

 

[Julia]

If he had been mentally ill for years, where was the British government and his family? He wouldn't be homeless in another country and become a target of drug dealers if he was looked after properly. It's his government and family who failed him.

Without meaning to be disrespectful, this comment shows a lack of understanding of the management of people with mental illness. Unless they are criminally insane, the State cannot hold them in any secure facility.

Just think about it: if all the people who had a mental illness such as bipolar, depression, even schizophrenia, were required to have their freedom restricted, the outcry from not just the Left but everyone would be deafening. And what would it cost to house such patients. Obviously such a notion is ridiculous.

And it's almost as unreasonable to suggest that his family should have taken responsibility for his every move. If you've ever had ongoing contact with someone with a mental illness you would know that this is simply not feasible.

He was apparently bipolar. Most such people have periods of complete lucidity, and even in their extremes of hypomanic or manic behaviour or acute depression do not lack awareness of reality.

 

[Tink]

I am not one for the death penalty, but I cant stand drug mules.

Like all these other drug cases overseas, they have to go by that countries laws and if they havent learned that yet - thats life.

If he got away with it, they wouldnt be crying.

 

[DB008]

Akmal Shaikh, a British bi-polar sufferer who was homeless in Poland, was lured to China with dreams of becoming an international popstar - and incidently carried 4kg of heroin into China on the way to his dream.
Brad

He won't be doing that again. One less f**kwit in society.