Robert Lloyd Schellenberg’s Death Sentence in China Astonishes Canadian Community
Prior to the verdict, Schellenberg announced that he was not a drug smuggler and that he came to China just as a tourist. He explained that he was framed by criminals.
Robert Lloyd Schellenberg who was given a 15-year jail term in November for smuggling drugs now faces a death sentence in China. The Canadian was arrested in 2014 in China for an attempt to smuggle 500lb (227kg) of methamphetamine from China to Australia. The 500 pounds of methamphetamines were in pellets stuffed inside tires. Schellenberg’s case was reviewed and now a High Court in the northeastern city of Dalian announced his death sentence on Monday.
Prior to the verdict, Schellenberg announced that he was not a drug smuggler and that he came to China just as a tourist. He explained that he was framed by criminals. Schellenberg has 10 days to appeal to the court and as per his lawyer; he is most likely to do so.
Following the death sentence, the family of Robert Lloyd Schellenberg said that their “worst fears” have come true. "It is a horrific, unfortunate, heartbreaking situation," his aunt, Lauri Nelson-Jones, told the BBC via email. "It is our worst case fear confirmed," she added. "It is rather unimaginable what he must be feeling and thinking."
Canadian Prime Minister also condemned the verdict. "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 begin to arbitrarily apply the death penalty," he said in a statement. Trudeau has promised to intercede in Schellenberg’s case.
China has gained a reputation for executing more people annually than other nations put together according to Amnesty International. Schellenberg’s arrest comes after Huawei founder’s daughter Ms. Meng was arrested in Vancouver on December 1. She was accused of indulging in fraudulent bank transactions related to her business deals with Iran that violated U.S. sanctions.
Though she’s granted bail, she remains under constant surveillance and she must always wear an electronic ankle tag. Weeks after Ms. Meng’s arrest, China arrested two other Canadian citizens namely Michael Kovrig (former diplomat) and Michael Spavor (businessman) apparently for “endangering national security”. Foreign experts believe that the speed in the Canadian arrests in China is primarily to pressure Canada to release Ms. Meng to China rather than send her to the United States. As for Schellenberg’s family, they feared that he would merely become a “pawn” in the heated tension between the two countries.
