Is Schellenberg's death penalty political?

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China's diplomatic clash with Canada escalated when Canadian drug smuggler Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was sentenced to death in a retrial by the Intermediate People's Court of Dalian City, northeastern China's Liaoning Province, due to his smuggling over 200 kilograms of methamphetamine in China.

In terms of legal perspective, the Schellenberg's case is still under legal procedure as it has to go through the High Court and then to the Supreme People's Court in China.

How severely did Schellenberg violate the law?

Drug manufacturing and trafficking convictions are punishable by a life sentence or even the death penalty based on Chinese law. Article 347 of Chinese Criminal Law clearly defines methamphetamine as one of the narcotics facing three kinds of penalties if smuggled above 50 milligrams.

“It was methamphetamine that he was smuggling, and it was not 50 milligrams, it was 222 kilograms. It's very severe. The three forms of penalty are 15 years in prison, life sentence or death sentence. And that's what the court did; it exacted one of those three penalties in both trials," Dr. Omer Ozden, chairman of RockTree Capital, explained.

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The sentence came a month after the arrest in Canada of Meng Wanzhou, CFO of Chinese technology company Huawei. Therefore, some Western media claimed that the timing of his appeal and retrial could suggest that he has been dragged into the worsening diplomatic tensions between China and Canada.

Is Schellenberg's trial a political verdict?

Dr. Ozden emphasized that both China and Canada see this as pressure from the other side. However, both sides have to understand that China has sovereignty over its laws, similar to Canada and the U.S.

According to a statement by the Dalian Intermediate People's Court, Schellenberg was involved in international drug smuggling activities in which he packed over 222kg of methamphetamine in tires to ship to Australia.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused China of "arbitrarily" applying the death penalty. Some Canadian media reports state that Schellenberg was convicted of drug possession and trafficking by courts in Canada as early as 2003 and 2012.

Moreover, Schellenberg has been on trial in China for drug smuggling for some time. According to relevant information issued by the Dalian Intermediate People's Court, Schellenberg had committed drug-related crime in China since 2014.

“In fairness to Prime Minister Trudeau, he did say in his speech that every single time a Canadian is facing the death penalty, they have to make a protest," Dr. Ozden said. “The death penalty is shocking to Canadians because there is no death penalty in Canada, so it's something that is seen as very sensitive.”

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(Cover photo: The Dalian Intermediate People's Court, the place where drug smuggler Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was sentenced, January 14, 2019. /VCG Photo)

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