Tag: Akmal Shaikh
Posted on Mon Dec 28, 2009 at 10:46:25 PM EST
Tags: Akmal Shaikh (all tags)
Despite pleas and protests, Akmal Shaikh, a 53 year old Briton with bi-polar disease, was executed by a firing squad in China a few hours ago.
Shaikh was only told of his execution yesterday. He is the first European national to be executed in China in 50 years.
His offense involved 4 kilograms of heroin. China allows the death penalty for quantities in excess of 50 grams (less than two ounces.)
His cousins were with him when he was told of his execution and said he was "very upset."
The anti-death-penalty organisation Reprieve said it had medical evidence that Shaikh believed he was going to China in 2007 to record a hit single that would usher in world peace. It said he was duped into carrying a suitcase packed with heroin on a flight from Tajikistan to Urumqi.
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