Robert Schellenberg’s 15-year sentence for meth smuggling was increased to the death penalty not long after Canadian authorities arrested Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer, in Vancouver.

A Chinese court rejected a Canadian drug convict’s appeal of a death sentence in what appeared to be an effort to step up pressure on Canada to release a detained executive of tech giant Huawei. 
Key points:

  • Schellenberg’s case has been sent to China’s Supreme People’s Court for review before his death sentence
  • Canada’s ambassador to Beijing condemned the trial and sentencing of Schellenberg as “arbitrary”
  • Cases against other Canadians charged with spying continue

The Canadian government condemned the ruling and appealed to China to grant clemency to Robert Schellenberg.
Schellenberg was sentenced to 15 years in prison in November 2018 after being convicted of smuggling 222 kilograms of methamphetamine.
In January 2019, he was abruptly sentenced to death following the arrest of Huawei’s chief financial officer in Vancouver.
Meng Wanzhou was arrested on December 1, 2018, on US charges related to possible dealings with Iran.
The Higher People’s Court of Liaoning Province on Tuesday rejected Schellenberg’s appeal and sent the case to China’s Supreme People’s Court for review, as is required by law before death sentences can be carried out.
“We condemn the verdict in the strongest possible terms and call on China to grant Robert clemency,” Dominic Barton, the Canadian ambassador to Beijing, said.
“His retrial and subsequent sentence were arbitrary.
“We remain deeply concerned by China’s arbitrary use of the death penalty.”
Western diplomats attend court for Schellenberg’s appeal
Separately, former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor were detained in December 2018 and later charged with spying in what was widely seen as an attempt to pressure Ottawa to release Ms Meng.
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Mr Barton said he would travel to the north-eastern city of Dandong to see Mr Spavor in the coming days.
The ambassador said there might be a ruling in Mr Spavor’s case on Wednesday and said he had no details of when Mr Kovrig’s case might be decided.
Asked whether the three cases were linked to Ms Meng’s, Mr Barton said: “I don’t think it’s a coincidence these are happening right now while events are going on in Vancouver.”
Diplomats from the United States, Germany, Australia and France attended Tuesday’s hearing, according to Mr Barton.
He expressed thanks to them and to other governments for expressing support for Canada.
Two other Canadians, Fan Wei and Xu Weihong, also were sentenced to death on drug charges in separate cases in 2019 as relations between Beijing and Ottawa deteriorated.
The United States wants Ms Meng, who is the company founder’s daughter, extradited to face charges she lied to banks in Hong Kong in connection with dealings with Iran that might violate trade sanctions.
A Canadian judge will hear final arguments in the next few weeks over whether Ms Meng should be extradited.
She has been living under house arrest in Vancouver.
ABC/Reuters