PM plea over death sentence Briton

[Langweilig]

I found this on AOL news. Somehow, I don't think the Chinese will care about what Gordon Brown thinks.

http://news.aol.co.uk/pm-plea-over-death-sentence-...

[FourWheelDrift]

Dear Mr Brown.

We will consider your request to release the British prisoner but only if you were to grant the request of your nation by taking his place.

Yours sincerely
The Chinese Government.

Ps. Kindly keep your Winky eyed face out of our politics. We have a much bigger Army than you.

[GavinPearson]

Unfortunately for this prisoner, Gordon Brown spent a lot of last week criticising the Chinese when he was at Copenhagen. UK plc is also the recipient of massive loans from the Chinese.

He wields no sphere of influence over them and will be told to take a hike.

[PhillT]

So, China has shuffled this particular Briton off. Thoughts?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/a...

[speedchick]

First thoughts? who the hell are we to tell another country what to do with regard to how they uphold their laws etc? If a country has a death penalty, then that is their way of doing things, and it's not for us to interfere.

[NoNeed]

PhillT said:

So, China has shuffled this particular Briton off. Thoughts?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/a...

Gordon will be that angry he will throw ore money at them.

[Skywalker]

speedchick said:

First thoughts? who the hell are we to tell another country what to do with regard to how they uphold their laws etc? If a country has a death penalty, then that is their way of doing things, and it's not for us to interfere.

I fully agree. It is a shame that the Thai authorities haven't stuck to their guns on this too.

It does send an unequivocal message of "Don't peddle drugs into China".
It is a shame that we do not have this resolve here OR if we choose not to have a death penalty for certain offences, then we need a penal system in which a life sentence does mean life - and teh prisoner dies inside.

If he was set up as a patsy, then the Chinese should also go after the 'Mr Big'.

Go on Winky - what are you going to say now?
No extraditions to China? Does that mean we won't extradite to the US too (unless in orange jumpsuits)?

[fiveoclockhero1]

Gordon Brown says "At this time our thoughts are with Mr Shaikh's family and friends and I send them our sincere condolences." He would do better to send his sincere condolences to the family and friends of thousands of people whose lives are ruined or ended by heroin smuggled by people such as Akmal Shaikh.

Isn't it strange how when he got caught all of a sudden his family say he is bi-polar and not responsible. They thought he was responsible enough to allow him to roam all over the world by himself.

Edited by fiveoclockhero1 on Tuesday 29th December 07:49

[chris watton]

Sorry, but good riddance to bad rubbish - live by the sword etc...

[b2hbm]

fiveoclockhero1 said:

Isn't it strange how when he got caught all of a sudden his family say he is bi-polar and not responsible. They thought he was responsible enough to allow him to roam all over the world by himself.

Edited by fiveoclockhero1 on Tuesday 29th December 07:49

ditto, exactly the same thoughts came to mind yesterday when I heard an interview with one of the family on the radio. It's ridiculous to claim he's not capable of realising he has 4kg of dope in his bag when he's apparently capable of wandering the world on his own, presumably buying his own tickets and managing to find somewhere to eat/sleep/etc in a foreign land.

4kgs isn't just a bit of dope for the odd party, it's major league. I'm not surprised the Chinese stuck to their guns, in fact the more pressure that the "it's not fair" brigade piled on the less likely they were to shift position.

[Jasandjules]

F**k him.

That is all.

This applies to both winky and the smuggler of drugs

[Eric Mc]

speedchick said:

First thoughts? who the hell are we to tell another country what to do with regard to how they uphold their laws etc? If a country has a death penalty, then that is their way of doing things, and it's not for us to interfere.

We are perfectly entitled to express our opinion (one of the benefits of living in a democracy).

They are perfectly entitled to ignore it (one of the benefits of being a dictatorship).

[fido]

fiveoclockhero1 said:

Isn't it strange how when he got caught all of a sudden his family say he is bi-polar and not responsible. They thought he was responsible enough to allow him to roam all over the world by himself.

I don't think anyone has ever admitted to being responsible for carry drugs - remember the two girls who were caught in Acra. As much as i detest capital punishment, well he took his chances and it didn't pay off.

Oh, and I hope that Winky spell-checked his letter this time.

Edited by fido on Tuesday 29th December 09:31

[Eric Mc]

fido said:

fiveoclockhero1 said:

Isn't it strange how when he got caught all of a sudden his family say he is bi-polar and not responsible. They thought he was responsible enough to allow him to roam all over the world by himself.

I don't think anyone has ever admitted to being responsible for carry drugs - remember the two girls who were caught in Acra. As much as i detest capital punishment, well he took his chances and it didn't pay off.

I don't think anyone denies that - including him.

However, the strange thing is that the Chinese system does not seem to take into account any mental health issues at all.

[Conian]

Eric Mc said:

fido said:

fiveoclockhero1 said:

Isn't it strange how when he got caught all of a sudden his family say he is bi-polar and not responsible. They thought he was responsible enough to allow him to roam all over the world by himself.

I don't think anyone has ever admitted to being responsible for carry drugs - remember the two girls who were caught in Acra. As much as i detest capital punishment, well he took his chances and it didn't pay off.

I don't think anyone denies that - including him.

However, the strange thing is that the Chinese system does not seem to take into account any mental health issues at all.

If he was highly autistic/mongol then you may decide his mental health is bad enough to have been used as a mule, but bi-polar does not account for the decision 'shall i carry drugs or not' or the moral 'is it wrong or right' nor does it override the fact of 'it's illegal'

He got caught. Off with his head. Then we should pay China to clear out some of our jails
60k a year to house a prisoner or 1k for a plane ride followed by a 1k charge to exterminate them. 58k saved in the first year per prisoner

[fiveoclockhero1]

Eric Mc said:

fido said:

fiveoclockhero1 said:

Isn't it strange how when he got caught all of a sudden his family say he is bi-polar and not responsible. They thought he was responsible enough to allow him to roam all over the world by himself.

I don't think anyone has ever admitted to being responsible for carry drugs - remember the two girls who were caught in Acra. As much as i detest capital punishment, well he took his chances and it didn't pay off.

I don't think anyone denies that - including him.

However, the strange thing is that the Chinese system does not seem to take into account any mental health issues at all.

According to radio 5 live he didnt have any mental health issues recorded in this country and his family only mentioned them after he was arrested in China

[fido]

Eric Mc said:

fido said:

fiveoclockhero1 said:

Isn't it strange how when he got caught all of a sudden his family say he is bi-polar and not responsible. They thought he was responsible enough to allow him to roam all over the world by himself.

I don't think anyone has ever admitted to being responsible for carry drugs - remember the two girls who were caught in Acra. As much as i detest capital punishment, well he took his chances and it didn't pay off.

I don't think anyone denies that - including him.

However, the strange thing is that the Chinese system does not seem to take into account any mental health issues at all.

Not according to the article in The Times:-

The Supreme Court said that the death sentence was the correct judgment in the case and evidence of mental illness was insufficient. Justifying its decision, the Supreme Court said in a statement: "To use the death penalty for extremely threatening and serious crimes involving drugs is beneficial to instilling fear and preventing drug crimes."

It said no documents provided by the British Embassy or by other organisations as well as by Mr Shaikh himself could prove that he had a mental disorder. "There is no reason to cast doubt on Akmal Shaikh’s mental status.”

Not saying this statement is truthful, but neither would I trust anything from Brown & co either, sadly. It's an easy diversion from their economic and political woes, China is an easy target - they are not exactly well known for being popularist on global issues - but neither did they have anything to gain by executing him.

Edited by fido on Tuesday 29th December 09:42

[Eric Mc]

In the UK, this individual would have been subject to a mental health assessment by UK specialists. The UK courts would not have relied on the supply or lack of supply of evidence from the convicted's country of origin.

I'm not saying the guy was mentally well or unwell. It just seems that the Chinese did not follow any sort of set mental health test ptrocedure of their own - as you would get in most democratic countries.

[groucho]

Eric Mc said:

In the UK, this individual would have been subject to a mental health assessment by UK specialists. The UK courts would not have relied on the supply or lack of supply of evidence from the convicted's country of origin.

I'm not saying the guy was mentally well or unwell. It just seems that the Chinese did not follow any sort of set mental health test ptrocedure of their own - as you would get in most democratic countries.

Our country is so great though, isn't it?

[Eric Mc]

groucho said:

Eric Mc said:

In the UK, this individual would have been subject to a mental health assessment by UK specialists. The UK courts would not have relied on the supply or lack of supply of evidence from the convicted's country of origin.

I'm not saying the guy was mentally well or unwell. It just seems that the Chinese did not follow any sort of set mental health test ptrocedure of their own - as you would get in most democratic countries.

Our country is so great though, isn't it?

It's not bad - and definitely a place I'd prefer to live in compared to China.