China to Execute British National over Drug Smuggling

The crime occurred in 2007, when Akmal Shaikh was found smuggling almost 4kgs of heroin in the city of Urumqi, China. And 2 years down the line, the punishment has been finalized. Akmal Shaikh will be executed. This does seem a bit harsh, even more so, taking into account the fact that the British national is mentally ill.

However, in spite of all the factors, the date for the execution has been set for the 29th of December, and though the condemned man's relatives and family members are appealing, Chinese authorities say there is little hope of the government being lenient. Indeed, China is not known for its policy of leniency and as many as 1718 people were executed in 2008, a statistic that does not bode well for Akmal.

According to the family, Akmal Shaikh is said to be suffering from bipolar disorder, and his mental condition was described as fragile. He claims that he was not aware of any heroin, let alone smuggling, while the family claims that drug smugglers used him to ferry drugs taking advantage of his mental condition. In fact, his mental condition is so bad, that the Chinese authorities have not even informed him about his execution order, on 'humanitarian grounds'.

His daughter, Leilla Horsnell, agreed with the non-disclosure of the execution order to Akmal, saying "I think it's a good thing because I don't even think he would understand because we don't know how much his mental state has deteriorated." She further added that though he wanted to give statements, he was unable to speak properly, further testament to his mental condition. "We do know in one of the appeals he insisted on giving his own statements and he couldn't even speak properly, and what he was saying wasn't making much sense. And so I don't think him being told would mean anything or would...if anything, it might make it worse if he was aware of what was happening."

The daughter and two cousins are trying to persuade the Chinese authorities to reconsider his case, and are also planning to ask the Chinese President Hu Jintao for clemency. However, the Chinese are not known for granting clemency, and also do not have a history of being lenient. With 72% of the world's executions taking place in China last year, and for petty offenses such as tax fraud, the case of Akmal Shaikh looks grim indeed.

So the question is, can and will the Chinese shoot a mentally ill man? For this is how executions take place in China... with just a few provinces adopting the lethal injection method, most of the executions are done by bullet. Or will President Jintao show clemency to a man who is so mentally ill that he cannot even speak?