A British national has been executed by lethal injection in Urumqi, capital of the northwestern Xinjiang Ugyur Autonomous Region. 53-year-old Akmal Shaikh was convicted of smuggling drugs into China.

He was arrested in 2007 after his suitcase was found with four KGs of heroin, after arriving at Urumqi airport from Tajikstan. Britain, opposed the sentence, accusing Chinese officials of not taking Shaikh's mental illness into consideration. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Jiang Yu said on Tuesday that China handled the case properly, and called such accusations groundless.

Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu said, "China's judicial independence brooks no interference from the outside. No one is allowed to comment on China's judicial sovereignty. Cracking down on drug crimes is a common task for everyone. Britain's accusation is groundless, to which we express our strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition. We urge the British side to correct its wrong doing to avoid damaging bilateral relations."

Comments