Death sentence Briton told of fate

Dec 28 2009

A Briton facing execution in China has been told of his fate, his supporters said.

Akmal Shaikh, 53, who campaigners say has a mental illness, is due to be put to death at 10.30am (2.30am GMT) on Tuesday for smuggling 4kg of heroin, but was unaware of his death sentence until now.

Sally Rowen, legal director of the campaign group Reprieve, said: "He has been told ... that he is to be executed... The Chinese authorities had always said they would tell him 24 hours ahead."

She said the authorities had in the past given reprieves "right at the last minute". "There is no reason to think that this might not happen in this case," she said.

Two of his cousins travelled to China to make representations to the authorities, but his daughter Leilla Horsnell said she was not optimistic. She told the BBC: "I'd like to be hopeful, but time just seems to be running out."

Ms Horsnell said: "We do know in one of the appeals he insisted on giving his own statements and he couldn't even speak properly, and what he was saying wasn't making much sense. And so I don't think him being told would mean anything or would... if anything, it might make it worse if he was aware of what was happening."

His cousins Soohail and Nasir Shaikh, from London, flew from Beijing to Urumqi in north west China on Sunday. They joined two British embassy officials to deliver pleas for clemency to Chinese president Hu Jintao and the Chinese courts.

Ms Rowen said they were allowed access to Mr Shaikh on Monday and were the first family members to have face-to-face contact in two years.

Father-of-three Mr Shaikh, from Kentish Town in north London, was arrested in Urumqi in September 2007 and charged with drug smuggling. He lost a final appeal last week, but campaigners claim his bipolar disorder has not been taken into account.

If the sentence is carried out, it would be the first time an EU national has been executed in China for 50 years.