Canadian sentenced to death in China after Huawei CFO arrest
- 5 years ago
#Canada #China #Huawei
DALIAN, CHINA — China has sentenced a Canadian man to death following the arrest of Huawei's CFO Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver, reports the South China Morning Post.
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Robert Lloyd Schellenger was arrested in 2014 after being accused of trying to smuggle 227 kilograms of methamphetamines from China to Australia.
In November 2018, Schellenger was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $22,000 USD. China ordered a retrial of his case in December, just weeks after Meng's arrest.
They invited a group of foreign press to witness the trial in which the Canadian national was ultimately sentenced to death amid claims that his current sentence was too lenient.
Schellenger says he was framed by criminals introduced to him by a man called Xu Qing. Xu Qing was present in the trial as one of the prosecutor's witnesses.
During Xu Qing's testimony in court, he claimed he could not recall information regarding the case and when he spoke he referred to a written statement for details. The deliberation for the case took roughly an hour. Schellenberg's lawyer told the South China Morning Post that, "The announcement of the sentencing was all very fast, it took around 20 minutes."
Canadian officials believe this sentencing and the detention of two other Canadian citizens in December are retaliation from the Chinese government for the arrest of the Huawei CFO.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government viewed the situation with extreme concern. He said, "China has chosen to begin to arbitrarily apply death penalty as in this case facing a Canadian."
SOURCES:
South China Morning Post, BBC, NPR, The Guardian
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2182007/chinese-court-canadian-drug-smuggling-accuseds-defence-attack
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-46866941
https://www.npr.org/2019/01/14/685090302/chinese-court-sentences-canadian-man-to-death-escalating-tensions
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/14/china-sentences-canadian-man-death-drug-charges-robert-lloyd-schellenberg
DALIAN, CHINA — China has sentenced a Canadian man to death following the arrest of Huawei's CFO Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver, reports the South China Morning Post.
`
Robert Lloyd Schellenger was arrested in 2014 after being accused of trying to smuggle 227 kilograms of methamphetamines from China to Australia.
In November 2018, Schellenger was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $22,000 USD. China ordered a retrial of his case in December, just weeks after Meng's arrest.
They invited a group of foreign press to witness the trial in which the Canadian national was ultimately sentenced to death amid claims that his current sentence was too lenient.
Schellenger says he was framed by criminals introduced to him by a man called Xu Qing. Xu Qing was present in the trial as one of the prosecutor's witnesses.
During Xu Qing's testimony in court, he claimed he could not recall information regarding the case and when he spoke he referred to a written statement for details. The deliberation for the case took roughly an hour. Schellenberg's lawyer told the South China Morning Post that, "The announcement of the sentencing was all very fast, it took around 20 minutes."
Canadian officials believe this sentencing and the detention of two other Canadian citizens in December are retaliation from the Chinese government for the arrest of the Huawei CFO.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government viewed the situation with extreme concern. He said, "China has chosen to begin to arbitrarily apply death penalty as in this case facing a Canadian."
SOURCES:
South China Morning Post, BBC, NPR, The Guardian
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2182007/chinese-court-canadian-drug-smuggling-accuseds-defence-attack
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-46866941
https://www.npr.org/2019/01/14/685090302/chinese-court-sentences-canadian-man-to-death-escalating-tensions
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/14/china-sentences-canadian-man-death-drug-charges-robert-lloyd-schellenberg