Update 14:30 / France’s foreign minister says he has been assured by his Iranian counterpart the Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman whose death sentence by stoning was suspended by authorities, will not be hanged as widely reported earlier today, according to Reuters. Ashtiani’s case has continued to draw international attention. Reports coming out of Iran, notably from German-based International Committee against Stoning, have suggested that the Tabriz prison has been given a green light to hang her Wednesday 3 November. Ashtianti’s supporters insist she was wrongfully accused of adultery as well of involvement in her husband’s murder, and several foreign governments have frequently expressed concern over the case. Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad refused to take media questions over the case when he attended a UN meeting in the US in September.
The White House in the US issued a statement Tuesday 2 November:
“We condemn in the strongest terms the Government of Iran’s apparent plans to move forward in executing Ms. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani. The lack of transparency and due process in Ms. Ashtiani’s case, and the subsequent actions taken against her lawyer and family, are unacceptable. Her case demonstrates the Government of Iran’s fundamental disregard for human rights, including those of women. We call on the Government of Iran to stop this execution, and provide Ms. Ashtiani with the due process and fair treatment she deserves.”
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has followed the case closely, issued a separate statement saying she is “deeply troubled” by the latest reports. “Ms Ashtiani’s case has not proceeded with the transparency and due process guaranteed under Iranian law, and we are concerned about reports of coerced confessions and other mistreatment. The United States joins the international community in calling for Iran to immediately halt any plans for Ms Ashtiani’s execution and to handle her case with utmost transparency.”
Iran, which regularly lambasts the US for its human rights record, is considered by Amnesty International to be second only to China in the number of executions it carries out annually, followed by Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the US.
Links to other sites: US State Department, The Globe & Mail, Reuters in New York Times, Xinhua
The British government has confirmed that China executed Akmal Shaikh, a British citizen, for drug smuggling. The man was considered by his family and the government to be mentally unstable but China ignored a request from Gordon Brown, British prime minister, to treat him with clemency. Official Chinese news agency Xinhua says the country’s Supreme Court reviewed and approved the death sentence, saying that the family had not provided documents showing he was mentally unstable, nor did the family have a history of mental illness. “ “There is no reason to cast doubt on Akmal Shaikh’s mental status,” the court determined. China’s criminal law mandates the death penalty for anyone carrying more than 50 grams of heroin and Shaikh was caught carrying more than 4 kg of the drug.
The British government says that it is “alarmed and deeply concerned” by the Chinese high court’s decision to execute British citizen Akmal Shaikh, age 53, accused of smuggling heroin. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s request 21 December to reprieve the man appears to have been turned down, with a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson saying at a regular news conference that he is slated to be executed. Shaikh looks likely to be the first British citizen sentenced to death in China in 50 years.
Shaikh’s family has not seen him for several years, but family members and the British government say they believe him to be suffering from untreated bipolar disorder and possibly an additional delusional disorder that explain his erratic behaviour before his arrest in Urumqi, in western China, in July 2007. He left the UK to set up an airline in Poland, although he had no money, and then left for Kyrgystan to become a pop star. He claims that he was given the suitcase with heroin by a fellow traveler. China says he has had a fair trial. He is sentenced to die 29 December.
Five people were sentenced to death in Urumqi, in the far western province of Xinjiang Thursday 3 December. The men were accused of murdering a police officer and killing bystanders during the worst ethnic riots in China in July. The riots erupted when ethnic Uighurs rampaged through the city, killing up to 200 ethnic Han Chinese, before order was restored. The accused had Uighur-sounding names and the proceedings were held in Uighur.
The trial began in October against 21 people accused of having taken part in July’s riots. Nine people have since been executed.
Links to other sites: AP,Romandie News
The US, which has in the past been outspoken about human rights violations in China, has made no official comment on the 15 October death sentences handed out in China. The sentences were given to people convicted of murder following the riots in Urumqi, Xinjiang province, in July 2009. Nearly 200 people died and an estimated 1,600 were injured in the ethnic riots that gripped the city for several days. RiaNovosti, US State Department, Xinhua
