China sentences Canadian to death for drug smuggling as diplomatic row deepens
- 5 years ago
A Chinese court has sentenced a Canadian man to death for drug smuggling - a move likely to aggravate already sour tensions between Beijing and Ottawa.
The Dalian Intermediate People's Court on Monday said Robert Lloyd Schellenberg's initial sentence of 15 years in prison was too lenient.
The court was hearing a retrial after Schellenberg appealed last year's ruling.
Monday's decision prompted an angry response from Canada's prime minister.
"It is of extreme concern to us as a government as it should be to all our international friends and allies that China has chosen to begin to arbitrarily apply death penalty in cases facing it as in this case facing a Canadian."
Ties between the two nations have deteriorated after the arrest of a Huawei executive in Canada last month.
China has since detained two Canadian nationals, accusing them of endangering national security.
Beijing has denied it is using its legal system to take hostages as bargaining chips in the Huawei case.
The Dalian Intermediate People's Court on Monday said Robert Lloyd Schellenberg's initial sentence of 15 years in prison was too lenient.
The court was hearing a retrial after Schellenberg appealed last year's ruling.
Monday's decision prompted an angry response from Canada's prime minister.
"It is of extreme concern to us as a government as it should be to all our international friends and allies that China has chosen to begin to arbitrarily apply death penalty in cases facing it as in this case facing a Canadian."
Ties between the two nations have deteriorated after the arrest of a Huawei executive in Canada last month.
China has since detained two Canadian nationals, accusing them of endangering national security.
Beijing has denied it is using its legal system to take hostages as bargaining chips in the Huawei case.