Chris dismayed by execution of Akmal Shaikh

8.13.00am GMT Tue 29th Dec 2009

Chris Coleman, the prospective Liberal Democrat MP for the Forest of Dean, has expressed his dismay at the decision of the Chinese authorities to execute Akmal Shaikh in the face of clear evidence that he was suffering from mental illness that meant that he would not have understood the crime that was being committed.

Akmal Shaikh is the first European citizen to be executed by the Chinese in 58 years. It follows a secret 'Trial' where it is not clear whether he was represented and a process in which it is clear that no medical examination was done nor expert called. To make matters worse, if that were even possible, no family member was allowed to be present at his death and his body will not be repatriated.

Chris said: "I am simply disgusted by the news from China. I am totally against the death penalty in any circumstances but in this case especially it is absolutely clear that Akmal Shaikh was someone who was clearly mentally ill. His murder is a sad indictment of the legal system in China."

Chris also expressed his alarm at how little interest the British Government has shown in the case. "For Gordon Brown to say that he is "disappointed" by the execution is shameful. Where were the high-level representations? Where were the public statements? Where was the pressure? This is a case that has been going on for two years and the Government's response has been left to the last minute."

Reprieve, a legal action charity, uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantánamo Bay. Reprieve have issued the following Press Release:

Akmal Shaikh's execution was carried out this morning at 2.30am GMT. Reprieve is appalled that no mercy was shown to a man who was clearly mentally ill.

As sometimes happens when the hours are ticking down to execution, the media coverage provoked impartial witnesses - in this case, six -- to come forward at the last minute, each concerned that an injustice was about to take place. Reprieve took statements from each person, and passed them onto the Chinese authorities. This all fell on deaf ears as apparently the bureaucracy was too unwieldy or uncaring to change terrible plans.

Luis Belmonte Diaz, a Spanish photographer based in Warsaw, provided pictures of Akmal down and out in Poland. Paul Newberry, a British national who has lived 15 years in Poland, took part in Akmal's delusional "Come Little Rabbit" recording and detailed his mental illness. A third witness, Gareth Saunders, is a British teacher and musician who sang backup on the song in an effort to humour a gentle but delusional man. Jacek Gniadek, a Roman Catholic Priest, was Project Manager at the Migrant Centre Fu Shenfu in Warsaw, that Akmal used to frequent when he was homeless and in a steep psychological decline. Sister Alicja Prejzner is a nun who also worked there. Finally, Akmal's GP Dr Martin Harris came forward to call for a full evaluation of his former patient.

Members of the Shaikh family joined a respectful vigil outside the Chinese Embassy as the hours counted down towards execution. They continued to beg the Chinese authorities to show mercy by all avenues possible. This, too, elicited no compassion.

The last minute failure to allow a proper medical evaluation followed months of intransigence by the Chinese authorities. Reprieve first asked for an evaluation by a local expert in April 2009, which was initially granted but then refused. Reprieve paid for Dr Peter Schaapveld to fly more than 7000 miles to Urumqi to evaluate Akmal in May 2009. The Chinese had agreed to him meeting with Akmal but then, after his arrival, reneged. Repeated requests since that time went ignored. Chinese authorities refused Dr Schaapveld an entry visa on Christmas Day, when he again offered to come to conduct a full and free evaluation. China could have allowed a full medical evaluation months ago and still concluded the case this year.

Akmal Shaikh became the first European executed in China for 58 years. The last person was an Italian, Antonio Riva, who was shot by a firing squad in 1951, along with a Japanese man, Ruichi Yamaguchi, after being convicted of involvement in what China alleged was an American plot to assassinate Mao Zedong and other high-ranking Communist officials.

For more information on the work of Reprieve, visit www.reprieve.org.uk