Bipolar Briton faces execution in China.

[weltweit]

Briton faces execution in China
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/8425354.stm

A Briton is facing execution in China for drug smuggling after his appeal was rejected by China's Supreme People's Court.

Akmal Shaikh, 51, of north London, was arrested in September 2007 in Urumqi, north-west China, but denies knowledge of the 4kg of heroin he had with him.

A legal charity says Mr Shaikh suffers from bipolar disorder and is mentally-ill but the court denied the appeal.

 

[weltweit]

It said Chinese experts have joined Dr Schaapveld in calling for a proper mental health evaluation.

The charity claims Shaikh has always maintained he went to China to start a career as a pop star, despite no history of public singing, having previously lived in Poland where he tried to set up an airline.

So he went to china to become a popstar and had tried to set up an airline in Poland.

That seems like quite hypomanic or manic behaviour to me.

 

[weltweit]

Apparently he could be executed as soon as next Tuesday.

 

[London_Calling]

It says he was duped into carrying a bag for someone who claimed to be able to give him work in a nightclub, only for police to find the heroin when he landed in China.

Yeah right. 9lbs of it. Merry Christmas.

 

[weltweit]

Yeah right. 9lbs of it. Merry Christmas.

Is that a lot?

Are you saying he had to know what he was doing?

Because people with unmedicated bipolar can do stupid things.

 

[weltweit]

http://www.reprieve.org.uk/akmalshaikh

At the most recent appeal hearing, against the very strong advice of his lawyers, Akmal read aloud a long, rambling and often incoherent personal statement to the court. Greeted with incredulity and sometimes mirth by court officials, the 50-minute speech demonstrates Akmal’s severe mental unbalance.

 

[Obnoxiousness]

I think China won't budge, even if Gordon Brown goes to Beijing himself with an army of psychiatrists. They execute people for fraud in China, so drug runners are clearly in the zone for capital punishment.

I hope that I'm wrong.

 

[weltweit]

I think China won't budge, even if Gordon Brown goes to Beijing himself with an army of psychiatrists. They execute people for fraud in China, so drug runners are clearly in the zone for capital punishment.

I hope that I'm wrong.

He would be the first EU citizen to be executed in China for 50 years.

 

[Obnoxiousness]

His mental health should get him off the death sentence...

The bipolar manic symptoms could have put him right into this situation. In the same way a paranoid schizophrenic might get self defensibly violent because of psychosis.

 

[weltweit]

afaict So far the court has not permitted him to be examined by a psychiatrist.

 

[cybertect]

OK, it's not an execution, but the UK might not be in entirely the best position to comment

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/24/ripa_jfl/

UK jails schizophrenic for refusal to decrypt files

The first person jailed under draconian UK police powers that Ministers said were vital to battle terrorism and serious crime has been identified by The Register as a schizophrenic science hobbyist with no previous criminal record.

His crime was a persistent refusal to give counter-terrorism police the keys to decrypt his computer files.

The 33-year-old man, originally from London, is currently held at a secure mental health unit after being sectioned while serving his sentence at Winchester Prison.

 

[subversplat]

Is that a lot?

Are you saying he had to know what he was doing?

Because people with unmedicated bipolar can do stupid things.

A lot? It's 20,000 street doses, before being cut.

 

[weltweit]

A lot? It's 20,000 street doses, before being cut.

ok, but it still does not mitigate that bipolar people when they are manic or hypomanic can do stupid things, things that seem crazy to normal people.

 

[subversplat]

ok, but it still does not mitigate that bipolar people when they are manic or hypomanic can do stupid things, things that seem crazy to normal people.

Oh no, not at all. I'm in support of this guy

 

[Lo Siento.]

I don't think anyone should be executing for trafficking heroine - but what has his bipolar got to do with it?

 

[Obnoxiousness]

I don't think anyone should be executing for trafficking heroine - but what has his bipolar got to do with it?

Diminished responsibility.


I wonder what happens to mentally ill people in China?

 

[Skin]

At what point does mental health become no excuse?
I know several bi-polar people. None of them has smuggled drugs.
At what stage in his illness was he?
In my experience people are very high, Normal or very low.
Ok I expect to get slated for this. And probably quite rightly for my lack of understanding of bi-polar
I am not a great fan of heroin.
I don't believe he didn't know.
And I doubt there was much thought for the misery that this drug brings.
Obviously I wouldn't want him to be executed, But sooner or later a person is responsible. Or they should be locked up for their own safety.

 

[weltweit]

I don't think anyone should be executing for trafficking heroine - but what has his bipolar got to do with it?

That he was probably not of sound mind when he travelled to China in the first place. I mean he was going there to become a pop star, a person with no singing experience, and before he had tried to start an Airline in Poland. These are pastimes of the manic, not of "well" people.

 

[Lo Siento.]

Diminished responsibility.


I wonder what happens to mentally ill people in China?

The (diagnosed) bipolar people I've known in my life have certainly been responsible enough not to smuggle large quantities of heroine.

 

[Lo Siento.]

That he was probably not of sound mind when he travelled to China in the first place. I mean he was going there to become a pop star, a person with no singing experience, and before he had tried to start an Airline in Poland. These are pastimes of the manic, not of "well" people.

but what, people of unsound mind aren't to be held responsible for their actions? Are you arguing he should be committed instead? or just let go?

 

[sheothebudworths]

Yeah right. 9lbs of it. Merry Christmas.

I read about this a few months ago.

The man was clearly very, very unwell.

It'd certainly be worth reading up on it before you assume that the quantity he carried neccessarily proves any guilt.

 

[Obnoxiousness]

The (diagnosed) bipolar people I've known in my life have certainly been responsible enough not to smuggle large quantities of heroine.

Were they medicated? Or getting any kind of treatment? I don't know a lot about Bipolar... but I do know that mental health can sometimes put you into situations that in hindsight are unbelievably dangerous.

 

[weltweit]

I wonder what happens to mentally ill people in China?

Whatever it is, I hope it is better than Paraguay

the Mental Hospital in Asunción in 2003
http://www.pbase.com/crespoide/infierno

 

[weltweit]

The (diagnosed) bipolar people I've known in my life have certainly been responsible enough not to smuggle large quantities of heroine.

Did you know them when they were ill?
I did some stupid things when I was ill and so did the other people I have met with it.

 

[Lo Siento.]

Were they medicated? Or getting any kind of treatment? I don't know a lot about Bipolar... but I do know that mental health can sometimes put you into situations that in hindsight are unbelievably dangerous.

both are/were medicated, I believe. Both have done/did incredibly dangerous things in their lives, but again neither struck me as being devoid of reason or any sense of consequences...

 

[Obnoxiousness]

Whatever it is, I hope it is better than Paraguay

the Mental Hospital in Asunción in 2003
http://www.pbase.com/crespoide/infierno

Woah!

How much does medication for bipolar cost per day, I wonder?

 

[Lo Siento.]

Did you know them when they were ill?
I did some stupid things when I was ill and so did the other people I have met with it.

yeah, both.

 

[Obnoxiousness]

both are/were medicated, I believe. Both have done/did incredibly dangerous things in their lives, but again neither struck me as being devoid of reason or any sense of consequences...

So it's possible that an unmedicated person suffering with bipolar would have raging manic episodes, which could possibly result in them committing a crime then. Assuming that medication was controlling/diluting, to a point, your friend's bipolar.

 

[sheothebudworths]

but what, people of unsound mind aren't to be held responsible for their actions? Are you arguing he should be committed instead? or just let go?

He should be hospitalised and treated if his condition is still as it was, certainly not imprisoned.

This is pissing me right off - can't find the oriiginal article I read - but get a fucking grip.

 

[weltweit]

but what, people of unsound mind aren't to be held responsible for their actions? Are you arguing he should be committed instead? or just let go?

I think we have it that people can be judged not of sound mind, that gets them off quite a lot but they are often committed instead yes.

I don't know if this person was ever on any medication but at the time of the journey it certainly seems he was not. And at some of the hearings it also seems he was quite unwell.

Mental health hospital would be the best result, if they have such things in China.