Canadian citizen sentenced to death in China for drug trafficking

The Dhaka Times Desk A Chinese court sentenced a Canadian citizen to death for drug trafficking. A Chinese appellate court gave this verdict.

A Chinese court sentenced a Canadian citizen to death for drug trafficking. A Chinese appellate court gave this verdict. As a result of this verdict, it is believed that the relations between the two countries may further deteriorate along with increasing diplomatic instability between the two countries.

According to media reports, a Chinese appellate court sentenced a Canadian citizen to death for drug trafficking. Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian citizen, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2018 by a lower court. But the appeals court said in a ruling on Monday that his previous sentence was too lenient for the crime.

The diplomatic strain between the two countries was triggered by the arrest of Meng Wangzhu, the top executive of Chinese telecom giant Huawei, in Canada a few weeks ago. Now it is believed that it will be more intense in the case of the death sentence of the Canadian citizen named Robert Schellenberg. Wangzhou was arrested by Canadian police at the request of the US government. He was released on bail last month but was barred from leaving Canada.

Schellenberg, 36, was arrested by Chinese police in 2014 for planning to smuggle 227kg of methamphetamine from China to Australia. In November 2018, a court of the country sentenced him to 15 years in prison.

However, following an appeal, a higher court in China's northeastern city of Dalian increased his earlier sentence and sentenced him to death on Monday. At the same time, all his financial assets have been ordered to be confiscated. Schellenberg pleaded not guilty before the verdict. The Canadian citizen will have 10 days to appeal against this verdict.

Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has expressed anger and concern over the execution of a Canadian citizen in China.
The arrest of the 46-year-old daughter of Huawei's founder, Wangzhu, has caused a lot of tension between Canada and the United States as well as China. After that incident, Beijing detained two Canadian citizens for threatening China's security.