Akhmal Shaikh
Execution is a matter of conviction
- Source: Global Times
- [00:37 December 30 2009]
- Comments
Potential drug traffickers will have to think twice before setting foot in China. The crime is met with harsh punishment and the sentence is uniformly applicable, regardless of the offender’s nationality.
The execution of Akhmal Shaikh, a British national who was caught carrying four kilograms of heroin at the Urumqi airport in 2007, has delivered justice to the hundreds of thousands of drug victims and families ruined by narcotics.
These drugs have the effect of cancer in society and have to be eliminated ruthlessly. To meet that objective, any government has to be tough on drug crimes. Shaikh is not the first, nor will he be the last, foreigner executed in China under the law.
British diplomatic circles and media tried to mount a last-minute campaign to save Shaikh’s life and went on to attack the principle of legal fairness in China.
But the frenzy whipped up by the British diplomats and media didn’t evoke much sympathy as drug trafficking is a menace worldwide, and abiding by the law of the country one is in is a commonly accepted principle.
Though it repealed the death penalty a decade ago, Britain has to respect that China still has the death penalty, and carrying heroin in excess of 50 grams makes a person liable to the death sentence.
The Chinese public also reacted strongly to Shaikh’s case. But the verdict should be based on China’s law and the sentence carried out without fear or favor, and unmindful of external pressures.
Two years ago, Katsuo Mori, a Japanese national, was sentenced to death in China for drug smuggling. Despite strong expressions of concern emanating from the Japanese government, the ruling was upheld.
Admittedly, there is much work to be done for the improvement of China’s legal system. But, it has made the right decision in the sentence given to Akhmal and sticking to it. Had Akhmal’s death sentence been commuted, other offenders caught and found guilty of drug trafficking might have raised a similar plea and dubiously claimed “mental instability,” thereby weakening the spirit of legal independence.
China imposes severe penalties against serious crimes in order to deter potential offenders, though leniency is considered, where necessary, in sentencing.
Taking a life is a difficult decision. But uneven sentences that discriminate between foreigners and Chinese would be a blow to impartiality of justice, which is basic to the foundation of any country.
Upholding legal independence is essential to fully implement the rule of law in China, which will win it more respect in the long run.
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