British man may not know he is about to be executed
December 28, 2009
Akmal Shaikh, the British man who has been sentenced to death for smuggling heroin into China is apparently unaware that his execution is due to take place tomorrow. Chinese officials have allegedly said that they are keeping the information from Mr. Shaikh because of humanitarian considerations. Clive Stafford Smith from the human rights charity Reprieve has said that he is concerned about the Chinese not communicating the time of his execution with Mr. Shaikh and hopes that they are not letting him know because they are planning to show clemency.
Members of Mr. Shaikh’s family have travelled to China in the hopes of meeting with President Hu and getting him to reverse the death sentence. A letter from Mr. Shaikh’s brother, Akbar Shaik to the Chinese president begs him to show mercy. He says that he does not want this simply because his brother is British but because he is a father, son, brother and cousin who the family could not bear to lose.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has also urged the Chinese government to show clemency. Reprieve are claiming that fifty-three-year-old Akmal Shaikh suffers from bipolar disorder and that he was unaware of what he was doing when he was duped into carrying heroin into the country. They say that the fact that he had decided to go to China to launch a pop career, even though he has never been known to sing in public, is an indication that he is suffering from a mental illness. Mr. Shaikh had allegedly been trying to establish his own airline before embarking on his career as a pop star.
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