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Bipolar Briton faces execution in China.

weltweit said:
It is a sorry tale all round. His daughter sounded very sweet, must be awful for her.
Click to expand...

It must be pretty hellish, I agree. I wouldn't wish this on any family, especially not at this time of year.

They all have my sympathy.
 
What I don't understand is why the court has not asked for a mental health assessment.

They are able to ask for this, and apparently poor mental health can excuse people from execution.

I will have to read up about it.
 
chinadigitaltimes said:
December 23rd 2009

Efforts to save the life of Shaikh, 53, from north London, have intensified after the Chinese supreme court rejected his plea for clemency and upheld the death sentence yesterday.

Gordon Brown has written to the Chinese authorities pleading for the sentence to be set aside and today, in his first interview since a date for the execution was set, Shaikh’s brother told the Guardian of the family’s trauma.
Click to expand...

http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2009/1...entally-ill-briton-facing-execution-in-china/


bbc said:
26 May 2009

Reprieve says the court refused to allow Mr Shaikh to see a Chinese psychiatrist, and the charity's application for a psychologist to evaluate Mr Shaikh has been denied by Chinese authorities.
....
"And at a bare minimum, the prime minister can surely ensure that we get a mental health expert in to see Mr Shaikh, so we can prove the seriousness of Mr Shaikh's illness to the Chinese courts."
....
"The UK government has already made representations to the Chinese authorities - representations continue in both China and London.
Click to expand...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8068773.stm



So it seems he has failed an appeal, and that there have been efforts to get him assessed by a psychiatrist but all so far to no avail.
 
China defends decision to execute drug-smuggling Briton Akmal Shaikh
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6964839.ece

timesonline said:
China vigorously defended its justice system today, a day after its Supreme Court rejected the final appeal from a Briton who faces the death penalty on charges of drug-smuggling.

The case of Akmal Shaikh, 53, from London, has prompted several appeals from Gordon Brown to China’s leaders to exercise clemency towards a man who reportedly suffers from mental health problems.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said: "China’s judicial authorities independently handled this case in accordance with the law. Drug-smuggling is a grave crime in international practice."

She rejected charges from groups supporting Mr Shaikh that the courts had refused to allow independent assessments of the Briton’s mental health. "During the entire process, the litigation rights and the relevant rights and interests of the defendant were fully respected and guaranteed. China has offered prompt consular information to the UK and arranged consular visits."
Click to expand...
 
The daughter of British man sentenced to death in China has pleaded with the authorities to spare his life.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...to-execute-mentally-ill-Briton-next-week.html

telegraph said:
The 53-year-old, who is married with three children, was arrested in Urumqi in northwestern Xinjiang Province in September 2007 after arriving on a flight from Kyrgyzstan carrying a suitcase that contained four kilos of heroin.

He told police he had come to China to be a pop star and that he had been given the suitcase by a man who said he could make him famous and who would follow on the next flight. Mr Shaikh was subsequently convicted and sentenced to death in a 30 minute trial in October 2008.
Click to expand...
 
Something people could do, if they feel like helping:

Send an email to the chinese embassy.

Email: [email protected]

or write (but there may not be time) to:

Chinese Embassy, 49-51 Portland Place, London, W1B 1JL
 
Fullyplumped said:
It turns out that Gordon Brown did raise the matter in person with Hu, way back in September at the G20. I don't suppose those who called him spineless will withdraw their remarks.
Click to expand...

the Prime Minister raising the case with China's President Hu Jintao at the G20 summit in September.
Click to expand...


GB: Ehrm, could you drop this? No, OK then.


Should have been:


GB: A 100% tax on MSG. A 100% tax on crap plastic tat. No Scotch to be exported to China.


Balls. Brown doesn't have them.
 
I wonder if there are any people in China we could email about this.

There will be a British Embassy there no?

That might be a route.

Anyone know details?
 
TBH Weltweit, there's not a lot you can do, except hope that this is sabre rattling and they will spare him.

Horrible as it is to feel so impotent when a person's life is at stake.

I went through the same thing when Nguyen Tuong Van was hanged in Singapore. Wrote to everyone and got fuck all back.

I sell flights for a living, Since then, whenever people need to get to Oz or NZ I offer them routes not going via Singapore. Probably 2-300 people so far. insignificant really, but tis all I can do :(
 
email sent to British Embassy Bejing.

BTW if anyone wants to send emails, I am sending emails a bit like this : (obviously customise them depending on who you are sending them to)


Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing about the case of Akmal Shaikh who is a bipolar sufferrer and who is facing the threat of imminent execution by firing squad in China.

I understand that Akmal Shaikh was caught in posession of illegal drugs in China two years ago and that the penalty for this in China is death.

However I am also aware from numerous reports in the media that Akmal Shaikh is a bipolar sufferer who was almost certainly not taking any medication for his condition when the offence was committed. In Britain it is recognised that bipolar sufferers who are hypomanic or manic cannot be considered in full control mentally and are not considered to be "of sound mind".

I write in the hope that your embassy is doing everything in its power to request clemency in this case. In Britain we do not have the death penalty for any crime and we also recognise the defence of not being of sound mind.

I understand from the BBC that the potential execution of Akmal Shaikh would be the first time a citizen of the European Union would have been executed in China for 50 years.

I ask that you use your best offices to request clemency in this case, the better option rather than execution would be sectioning to a mental health unit, if such a thing exists in China.

Yours Sincerely

......
 
Bahnhof Strasse said:
TBH Weltweit, there's not a lot you can do, except hope that this is sabre rattling and they will spare him.

Horrible as it is to feel so impotent when a person's life is at stake.
Click to expand...

Yes I know what you are saying.
But so far I have only emailed:

1) my local mp
2) the foreign office
3) David Milliband
4) The Chinese Embassy in London
5) The British Embassy in Bejing

I had nothing better to do today anyhow and because I also have bipolar I can empathise with this guys plight. I got up to some pretty stupid things before I got on medication and some of the reports of what this guy is getting up to in court for example are exactly things I myself have done.

Bahnhof Strasse said:
I went through the same thing when Nguyen Tuong Van was hanged in Singapore. Wrote to everyone and got fuck all back.

I sell flights for a living, Since then, whenever people need to get to Oz or NZ I offer them routes not going via Singapore. Probably 2-300 people so far. insignificant really, but tis all I can do :(
Click to expand...

I don't know the story about Nguyen Tuong Van.

But I am not expecting anything back. I have come across people who wrote to their MPs et al 6 weeks ago and still did not receive any reply.

It is just I want to do what I can. Whatever that is.
 
weltweit said:
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.
Click to expand...

What's that Scots woman's name?


Woof
 
Shevek said:
I have done some pretty daft things whilst I have been manic like runnning round with no clothes on and coming onto a police officer. No doubt if that happened whilst I was in China I would be in serious shit.
Click to expand...


I don't think the Chinese police would look very favourably upon that sort of thing.

It's still quite a conservative and traditional society in many ways, you know, and open, sexual displays such as cumming on cops are rather frowned upon.

:p


Woof
 
I'd say it's 50/50 right now.

If the UK guarantees that Gordon Brown will publicly reaffirm and declare that Tibet is a part of China and that (in oblique reference to Taiwan,) there is only One China, I think there's a chance.

Hope so.

Woof
 
Jessiedog said:
I'd say it's 50/50 right now.

If the UK guarantees that Gordon Brown will publicly reaffirm and declare that Tibet is a part of China and that (in oblique reference to Taiwan,) there is only One China, I think there's a chance.

Hope so.

Woof
Click to expand...

I would have thought that is quite a lot to ask!
 
If you want to take a few moments of your time to possibly help save the life of Akmal Shaikh the bipolar Briton who is facing execution in China on 29th Dec 2009, you could help by sending a sincere email to the people and organisations below.

Here is a sample letter / email you could customise for each application.


Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing about the case of the bipolar Briton Akmal Shaikh who is scheduled to be executed in China on 29th December 2009.

It is my understanding that Akmal Shaikh is mentally ill, suffering from bipolar and that he was likely set up by drug dealers who found him because of his mental state, easy to manipulate.

If Akmal Shaikh was in Britain, he would likely have been admitted to a mental health hospital for treatment of his condition. In China he seems not to be getting any treatment for his condition and is now facing a firing squad.

I ask that you urgently use your good offices to ask for clemency in this case. Akmal Shaikh is mentally ill, he needs treatment, not execution.

I hope you will be able to help cancel his execution.

Yours Sincerely

...............................

1) You can email the Foreign Office about this case quite easily:

Their contact information is on their website and they have a contact form:

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en

...............................

2) To email David Milliband use:

email: [email protected]

...............................

3) You can email your local MP..

you can find your local MP and email them from this link:

http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/

...............................

4) To send a polite email to the chinese embassy in London.

email: [email protected]

...............................

5) To email the British Embassy in Beijing,

email: [email protected]

...............................

6) To send an email to Gordon Brown at No 10

Check this page below which tells you how and gives you a sample letter to send.

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_de...p?ActionID=638

...............................
 
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