**The Chinese ambassador Fu Ying has been summoned to the Foreign Office amid a growing row between the UK and China over the execution of a British man.**Akmal Shaikh, 53, a father-of-three, of London, was executed in China after being convicted of drug smuggling despite claims he was mentally ill.
The Chinese Embassy said Mr Shaikh had no previous record of mental illness.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was “appalled”. China warned criticism of the case would harm UK-China relations.
Brothers Soohail and Nasir Shaikh, who travelled to China to visit their cousin in prison and make a last-minute plea for clemency, said they were “deeply saddened, stunned and disappointed” by the execution.
They said: "We are astonished at suggestions that Akmal himself should have provided evidence of his own fragile state of mind.
“We find it ludicrous that any mentally-ill person should be expected to provide this.”
His daughter Leilla Horsnell added: “I am shocked and disappointed that the execution went ahead with no regards to my dad’s mental health problems, and I struggle to understand how this is justice.”
‘Lethal injection’
The execution by lethal injection took place despite repeated calls from his family and the British government for leniency, citing his mental state, saying that he suffered from bipolar disorder.
In a statement issued after the execution, the Chinese Embassy said Mr Shaikh’s rights “were properly respected and guaranteed” and British concerns were “duly noted and taken into consideration”.
It said: “As for his possible mental illness which has been much talked about, there apparently has been no previous medical record.”
A report from the official Chinese news agency Xinhua said that China’s Supreme People’s Court had not been provided with any documentation proving that Mr Shaikh had a mental disorder.
Ambassador Fu Ying was summoned to the Foreign Office after the execution sparked condemnation from the UK government.
“The Chinese authorities have stubbornly failed to take account of this poor man’s severe mental illness shows that China is still stuck in the dark ages”
Robert Westhead
Charity MDF
In a statement, Mr Brown said: "I condemn the execution of Akmal Shaikh in the strongest terms, and am appalled and disappointed that our persistent requests for clemency have not been granted.
“I am particularly concerned that no mental health assessment was undertaken.”
Conservative leader David Cameron echoed the condemnation, saying he “deplored and deeply regretted” the execution.
Foreign Office minister Ivan Lewis, who held last-ditch talks with the Chinese ambassador in London on Monday evening, said the execution made him “sick to the stomach”.
He said the government had made 27 representations to China in two years, and believed it had done everything it possibly could.
‘Unreasonable criticism’
A spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Jiang Yu, told a press briefing in Beijing no-one had the right to comment on China’s judicial sovereignty.
“We express our strong dissatisfaction and opposition to the British government’s unreasonable criticism of the case. We urge [them] to correct their mistake in order to avoid harming China-UK relations,” she said.
The legal charity Reprieve had taken up Mr Shaikh’s case for the family.
Katherine O’Shea, Reprieve’s communications director, said it was “devastated” Mr Shaikh had been killed.
CHINA DEATH PENALTY
- China executed 1,718 people in 2008, according to Amnesty International
- Last year 72% of the world’s total executions took place in China, the charity estimates
- It applies to 60 offences, including non-violent crimes such as tax fraud and embezzlement
- Those sentenced to death are usually shot, but some provinces are introducing lethal injections
Executions shrouded in secrecy
“This guy was a very vulnerable person, extremely ill. He slipped through the cracks of society, and he was frankly failed by China and by their legal system. And it’s an absolute disgrace that he should have been killed.”
Mr Shaikh is the first EU national to be executed in China in more than 50 years.
His body will not be repatriated to the UK, and Mr Lewis said Mr Shaikh had been buried quickly “in accordance with the Muslim faith”.
In its statement, the Chinese Embassy said Mr Shaikh was convicted of “serious” drug trafficking.
“The amount of heroin he brought into China was 4,030g, enough to cause 26,800 deaths, threatening numerous families,” it said.
It added: “The legal structures of China and UK may be different, but it should not stand in the way of enhancing our bilateral relations on the basis of mutual respect.”
Mr Shaikh’s family said he had been delusional and duped into a carrying a suitcase that did not belong to him when he was found with 4kg of heroin in Urumqi, north-west China, in September 2007.
His daughter has said drug smugglers in Poland convinced him they would make him a popstar in China.
Charity MDF, The Bipolar Organisation, described the execution as “medieval rough justice” and an “absolute tragedy”.
Spokesman Robert Westhead said: “The way the Chinese authorities have stubbornly failed to take account of this poor man’s severe mental illness shows that China is still stuck in the dark ages.”