A Canadian man accused of drug smuggling in China appeared at a new trial yesterday after an upper court called for a harsher sentence in a case that could further strain ties between Beijing and Ottawa.
Robert Schellenberg, 36, was brought in handcuffs to a hearing in the northeast city of Dalian where he could potentially face the death penalty, weeks after his appeal of a 15-year prison sentence backfired.
Canadian embassy officials and three foreign journalists were given access to his retrial, which comes against the backdrop of the Chinese government’s anger over the arrest in Canada last month of a top executive from telecom giant Huawei.
Chinese authorities have since detained two Canadian nationals — a former diplomat and a business consultant — on suspicion of endangering national security, a move seen as an act of retaliation over the Huawei executive’s arrest.
Schellenberg, who was reportedly detained in Liaoning Province in 2014, is accused of playing an important role in drug smuggling and of potential involvement in international organized crime.
He was sentenced to 15 years in prison and a 150,000 yuan (US$22,000) forfeiture in November last year, but following an appeal, a high court in Liaoning last month ruled that the sentence was too lenient given the severity of his crimes.
In an opening statement, Schellenberg said he had come to China after traveling through Southeast Asia, including Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
He said a friend recommended a man named Xu Qing as a translator and he was swept up in what has turned out to be an international drug trafficking syndicate.
“This is a case about Xu Qing, he is an international drug smuggler and a liar,” Schellenberg told the court.
The crux of the retrial hinges on how much Schellenberg knows about the drug deal, which he claims was masterminded by Khamla Wong, a Canadian who was in 2016 arrested on drug charges.
Chinese prosecutors say that Schellenberg was part of an international syndicate which planned to send 222kg of methamphetamine to Australia, hidden within plastic pellets concealed in rubber tires.
Prosecutors brought in Xu as a witness, who in close to two hours of testimony never once turned to look at Schellenberg.
When pressed on details, he frequently said he could not remember and to refer to a written statement for details, including when Schellenberg questioned him about 180,000 yuan he was purportedly given.
Two other Chinese men have been involved in this case — one was sentenced to life imprisonment and another handed a suspended death sentence.
The court was filled with about 70 observers who were patted down and made to empty their pockets — receipts and stray coins were to be left at security.
China has executed other foreigners for drug-related crimes in the past.
Court retrials are rare in China and retrials calling for a harsher sentence are even rarer, said Donald Clarke, a George Washington University professor specializing in Chinese law.
“It is obvious ... that Schellenberg’s fate will have little to do with his actual guilt or innocence,” Clarke said.
“If the Chinese government has an innocent explanation for all the unusual features of this case, I hope it will provide it. Otherwise, I don’t know how to understand this case other than as a simple threat,” he said.
Ottawa said it was following the case “very closely” and has provided Schellenberg with consular assistance.
Beijing has repeatedly denied any diplomatic pressure behind Schellenberg’s case.
“You can ask these [critics] which laws the relevant Chinese judicial organs and departments have violated by” ordering a retrial, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang (陸慷) said at a regular press briefing on Friday.
“If no laws have been broken, I hope that these people can stop recklessly suspecting others of politicizing legal issues just because they have done so,” Lu said.
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS