Australian sentenced to death in China on drug charges

An Australian citizen has been sentenced to death in China on drug charges.

The federal government confirmed the sentence and identified the Australian as Karm Gilespie.

'The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to an Australian man detained in China," it said in a statement.

"We are deeply saddened to hear of the verdict made in his case. Australia opposes the death penalty, in all circumstances for all people."

Gilespie was arrested with 7.5 kilograms of ice in his luggage in 2013 while attempting to leave China through Guangzhou Baiyun Airport, according to local Chinese website News.Ifing.com.

The Australian was arrested at the peak of a Chinese government crackdown on methamphetamine smuggling between 2012 and 2015 and is one of several sentenced through the Chinese courts.

Queenslander Ibrahim Jalloh received a suspended death sentence in 2015.

The sentence was later commuted to life in prison.

NSW man Peter Gardner, who was arrested at the same airport in 2014 for allegedly trafficking 30 kilograms of ice, also remains in a Guangzhou prison awaiting his sentence.

Gilespie's arrest came before the Australian Federal Police signed the Task Force Blaze agreement with Chinese law enforcement agencies to tackle drug smuggling in 2015.

The agreement has netted more than 20 tonnes of narcotics since its inception.

The AFP have been contacted for comment.

The verdict, announced by the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court on June 10, is likely to further strain Australia-China relations as the federal government battles trade disputes and accusations of discrimination against Chinese migrants during the coronavirus pandemic.

China's foreign and education ministries this week urged Chinese tourists and students to reconsider travelling to Australia.

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham has previously been critical of China's death sentences.

Last year he said he was "deeply concerned" by the death sentence of Canadian man Robert Lloyd Schellenberg after he appealed a 15-year sentence for smuggling 200 kilograms of methamphetamine.

"We expect at a level of principle that not only the death penalty should not be applied but also wherever people are in trouble the rule of law ought be applied fairly," he said.

Source: smh.com.au, Eryk Bagshaw, June 13, 2020

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