Amnesty International says a Chinese court’s decision to uphold the death sentence against Canadian Robert Schellenberg, convicted of drug trafficking, is cruel, inhuman, and contrary to international law.
Schellenberg was initially sentenced to 15 years in prison for drug smuggling in November of 2018.
He denies these charges.
Amnesty International Canada spokesperson, Aubrey Harris, explains that a month later there was an appeal hearing and he was instead given a death sentence.
Harris says, “Despite significant concerns about the fairness of his re-trial, a rushed, one-day affair that ended with a death sentence, a higher court is choosing to stand by this cruel sentence.”
He calls the ruling a flagrant violation of international law and adds that China issues the highest number of death sentences in the world, with executions that are shrouded in secrecy.
Harris says Schellenberg’s sentencing is no different.

It was December 1st of 2018 that the Chief Financial Officer of the Chinese tech giant Huawei was detained at the Vancouver International Airport.
The RCMP arrested Meng Wanzhou on a provisional U.S. extradition request for fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud in order to circumvent U.S. sanctions against Iran.
She was indicted by the U.S. Justice Department in February of 2020.