Chinese Court Upholds Death Penalty for Canadian Robert Schellenberg

Robert Schellenberg was originally sentenced to 15 years in prison in late 2018, but that was later changed to the death penalty.

A Chinese court upheld the death penalty for Canadian Robert Schellenberg for drug smuggling.

"The facts found in the first trial were clear, the evidence was reliable and sufficient, the conviction was accurate, the sentence was appropriate, and the trial procedures were legal," the Liaoning Province Higher People's Court said in a statement.

According to the prosecutors in this case, Schellenberg was a key member of an international drug trafficking syndicate which plotted to ship over 200 kg of methamphetamine to Australia back in 2014. The Canadian claims he was in China as a tourist and was unwittingly dragged into a drug smuggling ring by a Chinese man recommended as a translator.

Canadian ambassador to China Dominic Barton has strongly condemned the verdict and called on China to grant Schellenberg clemency.

"We've expressed our strong opposition to this cruel and inhumane punishment to China repeatedly and we will continue to do so," Barton said.

Schellenberg, who was detained in China in December 2014, was charged with drug smuggling in January 2015. Initially, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2018. Schellenberg appealed his original sentence. In 2019, a Chinese court in Liaoning province retried him, and decided on execution.

Another Canadian, Michael Spavor, detained by China in late 2018 on suspicion of spying, is expected to see his verdict announced later this week, possibly Wednesday.

China detained Spavor in December 2018 - several days after Huawei Technologies' Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver.

Yet another Canadian national, Michael Kovrig, was detained at the same time as Spavor, and is awaiting a verdict following his trial, which ended in March.