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Unveiling Singapore’s Death Penalty Discourse: A Critical Analysis of Public Opinion and Deterrent Claims

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While Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) maintains a firm stance on the effectiveness of the death penalty in managing drug trafficking in Singapore, the article presents evidence suggesting that the methodologies and interpretations of these studies might not be as substantial as portrayed.

Death sentence for Canadian in China 'of extreme concern': PM

Robert Lloyd Schellenberg
A Canadian man who was convicted of being an accessory to drug-smuggling in China has been sentenced to death in what appears to be the latest escalation of the ongoing diplomatic hostilities between the 2 countries.

Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was first arrested in China in 2014. He was tried in 2016 and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

That verdict was appealed, and prosecutors argued at the new trial that the sentence was too lenient. The new trial concluded Monday, with Schellenberg being found guilty and given a death sentence. Schellenberg has 10 days to appeal the sentence, according to his lawyer, Zhang Dongshuo.

According to the court, Schellenberg was recruited to help smuggle 222 kilograms of methamphetamine from a warehouse in Dalian, China, to Australia.

Zhang told The Associated Press that he had argued there was no justification for a stiffer sentence because no new evidence had been introduced at the 2nd trial.

Speaking to reporters in Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Canadian government would intercede on behalf of Schellenberg, as it is required to do anytime a Canadian faces the death penalty abroad.

“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 arbitrarily apply [the] death penalty,” he said.

While unusual, it is not unprecedented for a foreign national to be sentenced to death in China. British resident Akmal Shaikh was executed in 2009 for smuggling heroin.

Chinese officials have suggested that Schellenberg’s case is not related to the arrests of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor last month or the arrest in Canada of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.

Zhang said it was “unique” for a retrial to be held so quickly after it was ordered, but declined to comment on whether it could be related to the ongoing diplomatic dispute.

However, some analysts have suggested that Schellenberg’s fate could become a part of diplomatic negotiations between the 2 countries.

Ben Rowswell, a former Canadian diplomat who now heads up the Canadian International Council foreign policy think tank, said he considered the death penalty to be “a really dangerous escalation” of hostilities from China.

“In the absence of any messages from the Chinese government that they’re willing to protect the judicial process and have judicial issues dealt with separately from political issues, it certainly leads us to interpret this as yet another escalation,” he told CTV News Channel on Monday.

Schellenberg’s case was never publicized by Chinese media until shortly after Meng’s arrest.

Rowswell said Schellenberg’s fate would be “on the top of the agenda” for diplomats from Trudeau on down, with Canadian officials likely attempting to have Schellenberg returned to Canada and his case dealt with under the Canadian justice system.

“They will be doing everything possible in closed, secret, diplomatic channels to try and reach a resolution,” he said.

Lynette Ong, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Asian Institute and Munk School of Global Affairs, said the Canadian effort would likely involve convincing China that its world standing would be hurt if it executed Schellenberg.

Speaking on CTV News Channel, Ong said China needs to be seen as a “benign power” in order to realize its goal of becoming a greater global power.

“We need to persuade the Chinese that it is actually not in their national interest to detain Canadians or any foreigners as pawns,” she said.

Schellenberg would be the 1st Canadian citizen ever to be executed by China. Rowswell said Chinese authorities following through with the sentence could have far-reaching implications.

“That’s going to push Canadians over the edge,” he said.

“It will take years and years for the Canada-China relationship to recover.”

Erin O’Toole, the Conservative critic for foreign affairs, tweeted that Trudeau “needs to seize himself with this troubling and deepening diplomatic dispute.”

Monday’s sentence was the “worst-case fear confirmed” for Schellenberg’s family, according to his aunt, Lauri Nelson-Jones.

“It is rather unimaginable what he must be feeling and thinking. It is a horrific, unfortunate, heartbreaking situation,” she told The Canadian Press in an email.

Source: CTV News, January 15, 2018


China urges citizens to 'fully assess the risks' of visiting Canada


Justin Trudeau
Ottawa issued a new ominous travel advisory for China following a death sentence for a Canadian man.

Justin Trudeau is condemning a sudden decision by a court in China to order the execution of a B.C. man.

Hours after Canada issued a travel advisory warning of the “arbitrary enforcement of local laws” in China, Chinese officials have responded in kind.

The country’s foreign ministry published a notice Tuesday warning that Chinese citizens should “fully assess the risks of going to Canada for tourism.” The notice said Chinese citizens may find themselves “arbitrarily detained at the request of a third nation” in an apparent reference to Meng Wanzhou.

Meng, the chief financial officer of technology behemoth Huawei, was arrested in Vancouver last month following an extradition request from the United States government. The U.S. accuses her of using a shell company to hide dealings between Huawei and the Iranian government in violation of U.S. sanctions.

The Chinese government has arrested two Canadian citizens since Meng’s arrest. Another Canadian, Robert Schellenberg of Abbotsford, B.C., had his 15-year sentence for being an accessory to drug-smuggling upgraded to the death penalty Monday following a 2nd trial.

The death sentence is widely being seen as political retaliation, and prompted Canada to warn Canadian citizens Monday night about the risks of travelling to China.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying expressed “strong dissatisfaction” with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who had earlier said he felt “extreme concern” at China’s decision to put a Canadian to death.

Hua said Trudeau should “respect the rule of law, respect China’s judicial sovereignty, correct mistakes and stop making irresponsible remarks.”

According to the Chinese courts, Schellenberg was part of an operation to transport 222 kilograms of methamphetamine from a warehouse in China to a destination in Australia.

CTV Vancouver reports that a man with the same name and age as Schellenberg has served jail time for four drug-related convictions in B.C. in the past, 3 of which were for drug possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Schellenberg’s sentence has also been criticized by Amnesty International, which said execution was not an appropriate sentence for a drug-related offence.

"China's death penalty system is shrouded in secrecy, which contributes to why many will be questioning the timing of this decision,” William Nee of Amnesty International said in a statement.

“We have seen before that in highly politicized cases the trial is often a mere spectacle with the outcome already decided.”

Meng’s father has told reporters that he does not believe the death sentence or the arrests of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor are in any way connected to Meng’s arrest.

Source: CTV news, January 15, 2018


China must revoke death sentence against Canadian citizen for drug crimes


"Never forget that China is the world's largest dictatorship." - DPN
Responding to a death sentence given by a Chinese court to Canadian citizen Robert Schellenberg for drug smuggling, William Nee, China researcher at Amnesty International, commented:

“The death sentence given to Robert Schellenberg does not deliver justice. We urge the Chinese authorities to revoke this sentence. Drug-related offences do not meet international standards for the use of capital punishment.

"China's death penalty system is shrouded in secrecy, which contributes to why many will be questioning the timing of this decision. We have seen before that in highly politicized cases the trial is often a mere spectacle with the outcome already decided.

“The sudden re-trial and apparent rush to judgment has highlighted the numerous flaws in China’s judicial system. We hope that Robert Schellenberg and his defence counsel are given adequate time to prepare and respond to the prosecution’s new evidence when the case is finally brought up for appeal."

Background


Robert Schellenberg
Robert Schellenberg had been sentenced to 15 years in prison for drug smuggling, charges he denies, at his original trial in November 2018 at the Dalian Intermediate People’s Court in China’s northeast Liaoning Province. At the appeal hearing held on 29 December 2018, prosecutors said that they had uncovered new evidence and argued that the original sentence was too lenient. He received a death sentence at a re-trial by the same Dalian Intermediate People’s Court on Monday.

China executes more people than any other country in the world; however, the number of death sentences imposed and number of executions carried out are shrouded in secrecy. The authorities continue to execute a significant number of individuals for drug related and other offences which do not meet the “most serious crimes” threshold to which the use of the death penalty must be restricted under international law. States are under an obligation to review their criminal laws to ensure that the death penalty is not imposed for drug-related offences.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to carry out the execution. The organization has been campaigning for total abolition of the death penalty for over 40 years.

Source: Amnesty International, January 15, 2019


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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

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