EU condemns China’s execution of ‘mentally ill’ Briton

MOSCOW - The European Union (EU) Tuesday condemned the execution by China of a British man said to be suffering from a mental illness on drug-smuggling charges.

Akmal Shaikh, 53, was put to death by lethal injection earlier on Tuesday, becoming the first Western European to be executed in China in 50 years. He had been arrested in 2007 in northwest China’s Urumqi with four kilogram of heroin in his possession.

But campaigners claimed that Shaikh was suffering from bipolar disorder and had been duped by a gang of drug smugglers in Poland into believing that they could propel him to pop stardom and was not aware that he was carrying the drugs.

A clip of a song recorded by Shaikh, entitled Come Little Rabbit, was posted on the internet as the execution date loomed.

Shaikh had left Britain for Poland to set up an airline company, despite having no money or contacts or experience in the aviation business.

“The European Union (EU) condemns in the strongest terms the execution of Akmal Shaikh,” the EU statement read. “It deeply regrets the fact that China has not heeded the repeated calls by the European Union and one of its member states for the death sentence passed against Shaikh to be commuted.”

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown also criticised the decision to execute Shaikh, saying, “I condemn the execution of Akmal Shaikh in the strongest terms, and am appalled and disappointed that our persistent requests for clemency have not been granted.”

“I am particularly concerned that no mental health assessment was undertaken,” Brown added.

The Chinese foreign ministry slammed Britain’s criticism, saying in a statement that, “Nobody has the right to speak ill of China’s judicial sovereignty.”

The Chinese embassy in London said: “As for his possible mental illness which has been much talked about, there apparently has been no previous medical record.”

–RIA Novosti