Chinese court rejects Canadian’s appeal of death sentence

PTI, Aug 10, 2021, 8:52 AM IST

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Bejing: A Chinese court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by a Canadian whose sentence in a drug case was increased to death after an executive of tech giant Huawei was detained in Vancouver.

Robert Schellenberg was sentenced to prison in November 2018 after being convicted of drug smuggling. He was abruptly resentenced to death in January 2019 while the Chinese government was trying to pressure Canada to release the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Ltd Meng Wanzhou had been detained on US charges related to possible dealings with Iran.

The Higher People’s Court of Liaoning Province rejected Schellenberg’s appeal and said in a statement the sentence was appropriate and the lower court’s procedures legal. It sent the case to the Chinese supreme court for review, as is required by law before any death sentences can be carried out.