Dalian City Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg to death on Monday, January 14 for drug smuggling. The notice released by the court also states that all of Schellenberg’s assets have been seized and that more details about the case will become known in the coming days.
This is not the Canadian’s first sentencing. On November 20, 2018, Schellenberg was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined RMB150,000 by Dalian City Intermediate People’s Court. He was to be deported after his sentence was complete.
According to Beijing Evening News, Schellenberg decided to appeal the initial ruling, which led to another court hearing at Liaoning Provincial Higher People’s Court on December 29, 2018. The decision to appeal the first ruling came back to haunt Schellenberg as a Liaoning People’s Court prosecutor argued the initial sentence was too lenient.
The case went back to Dalian Intermediate People’s Court where the court accused Schellenberg of being a part of a drug smuggling operation that aimed to transport 222 kilograms of methamphetamine from China to Australia. The court ruled that, in accordance with the regulations stipulated by Chinese criminal law, Schellenberg would be given the death penalty, as well as forfeit all of his assets.
In a report by Ecns.cn, court officials told CGTN that Schellenberg did not want Canadian media present at his hearing and did not want fellow Canadians to hear about the case. He now has up to 10 days to appeal the ruling.
Schellenberg may join a long list of foreigners to be executed under Chinese law. John Kamm, executive director of the Dui Hua Foundation, an organization that advocates for political prisoners in China, spoke at length to Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail, stating that 19 foreigners were executed for drug-related offenses between 2009 and 2015.
[Cover image via Pixabay]
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