Schellenberg, a 36-year-old former oil worker, was first detained in Liaoning province in 2015. And jailed for 15 years later fined US$22,00...
Robert Schellenberg certainly faced a grim future. His recent drug-smuggling sentence meant another decade or so in a Chinese prison, after a years-long criminal record back home in British Columbia. But at least now the Canadian’s family could visit him for the first time in four years, and an appeal of his conviction was in the works. Those glimmers of hope vanished in a terrible flash Monday, as a court in China sentenced the 36-year-old to death, dramatically underlining fears that his case has become the latest bargaining chip in China’s bitter feud with Canada.
But late last month, Chinese media suddenly publicized his appeal hearing, and then the appeal court unexpectedly ordered a retrial at the urging of prosecutors who wanted a tougher penalty. The retrial was scheduled for barely two weeks later, and the verdict and sentence were reportedly handed down Monday with little deliberation. Unlike one of the other accused in the case, Schellenberg’s death sentence did not come with a two-year suspension, which usually results in the penalty being commuted to life in prison, noted Margaret Lewis, a law professor at New Jersey’s Seton Hall University and an expert on the Chinese legal system. He can appeal, and all death penalties are reviewed – and invariably confirmed – by the Supreme People’s Court, but without political intervention, his prospects look grim, she said. “Unless there is some dramatic turn of events, this is marching toward execution in the not too distant future,” said Lewis. “This is the most severe sentence allowed under Chinese law. It is death, with execution (after) crossing the Ts and dotting the Is.” Trudeau said Monday the government will do all it can to help Schellenberg. “It is of extreme concern to us as a government, as it should be to all our international friends and allies, that China has chosen to arbitrarily apply [the] death penalty,” he told reporters in Ottawa. Chinese authorities have responded furiously to the detention of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, who is under house arrest in Vancouver as Canadian courts consider a U.S. request to extradict her on fraud-related charges. Chinese officials have threatened both Cananda and US with "grave consequences" if the "extremely egregious" arrest of Meng Wanzhou, an executive at one of its biggest tech companies, isn't reversed. Meng was detained, at the request of the US, on suspicion of violating Iran trade sanctions.