Today China executed a British citizen, after finding him guilty of drug smuggling offences. Apparently a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and delusional psychosis was ignored by the Chinese court. Pleas by the British government and the charity Reprieve to grant Mr. Shaikh more leniency were also dismissed.
I am not a legal expert, so I will not wade in to detail of the case. However, I do with to make a few points:
- Firstly, China does not have a good record on human rights issues. If the psychiatric diagnosis was indeed ignored by the court, then Mr. Shaikh was denied a fair trial. If that had happened in Britain, I think I am right in saying that it would have necessitated a retrial. At the very least it would cast the court’s decision in doubt.
- Secondly, the Foreign Office Minister who dealt with this case was Ivan Lewis, not David Miliband. Surely an issue of this seriousness warrants an intervention from the Foreign Secretary, not a junior minister? I do not believe that Miliband is mentioned once in the BBC article.
- Thirdly, this will damage our relationship with China. Our government has criticised the Chinese, and China has already responded in kind. The diplomatic repercussions of Mr. Shaikh’s execution are as yet unknown.
Over on his blog, Iain Dale has posted an interesting piece about the silence of Baroness Ashton, the new EU High Representative. Hardly an auspicious start for her…
Whatever the facts of the case, the death penalty is morally wrong. My thoughts are with Mr. Shaikh’s family at this time.
