Executed Briton's relatives lament UK government's 'powerlessness'

Relatives of Briton Akmal Shaikh today said the UK government’s failure to prevent his execution in China showed Britain’s “powerlessness in the world”.

The criticism came as a diplomatic war of words broke out between London and Beijing over the execution of convicted drug smuggler Shaikh, who is believed to have suffered from bipolar disorder.

Shaikh, a British citizen, was killed by lethal injection yesterday despite pleas from his family, human rights groups and the UK government for his mental health to be considered.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who had telephoned Chinese premier Wen Jiabao to urge him to halt the execution, said he was “appalled and disappointed” at the failure to grant clemency.

Chinese officials in both capitals hit back with an insistence that Shaikh had “no previous medical record” of mental illness and a warning not to meddle in China’s judicial affairs.

Some 27 separate representations were made at ministerial level on Shaikh’s behalf to the Chinese authorities as intense efforts were made to spare his life.

But in a letter to The Guardian, his cousins Amina and Ridwan Shaikh said the British government had shrunk from confronting China over the case prior to the execution because of fears it could harm the UK’s economic interests in the country.

“Britain’s economic dependence far outweighs these ’individual cases’,” they wrote.

The letter continued: “Did the British government pull out its diplomats in protest? Did it have a hard-hitting strategy to persuade the Chinese authorities to change their decision?

“This is an example of Britain’s powerlessness in the world.”

They also complained of a lack of media coverage during the two years Shaikh was held in prison.

“Wouldn’t more media attention at an earlier stage have applied more pressure to the Chinese authorities? Wasn’t this lack of coverage an injustice in itself?”

The row between London and Beijing culminated last night in a “difficult” showdown between British Foreign Office minister Ivan Lewis and China’s Ambassador Fu Ying after she was summoned to explain her country’s action.

Emerging from the meeting, Mr Lewis said he “made clear that the execution of Mr Shaikh was totally unacceptable and that China had failed in its basic human rights responsibilities”.

Shaikh, 53, from Kentish Town, north London, who was arrested in Urumqi, north west China, in September 2007, was convicted of smuggling 4kg (8.8lb) of heroin into the country.

But his supporters said he suffered from a mental illness, thought to be bipolar disorder, and was duped into carrying heroin into China.

Campaigners said the courts in China failed to commission an assessment of his medical condition in spite of his mental illness, believed to be bipolar disorder.

Other cousins of Shaikh, Soohail and Nasir Shaikh, travelled to China to visit him in prison but failed in their efforts to have the execution delayed so his mental health could be assessed.

He died in the early hours of yesterday and it is believed his body was buried later the same day according to Islamic customs and laws.

The family said they were “deeply saddened, stunned and disappointed” by the execution, which mental health campaigners criticised as “medieval rough justice gone badly wrong”.

Mr Brown said he condemned the execution “in the strongest terms and (I) am appalled and disappointed that our persistent requests for clemency have not been granted.

“I am particularly concerned that no mental health assessment was undertaken,” he said, expressing his condolences to the family.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband, Conservative leader David Cameron and Liberal Democrat spokesman Ed Davey also joined the criticism, with Mr Miliband accusing the Chinese courts of failing to provide adequate professional interpretation during the trial.

Their words caused irritation in Beijing, where Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu expressed “strong dissatisfaction and opposition to the British Government’s unreasonable criticism” of the case.

“No-one has the right to comment on China’s judicial sovereignty,” she told a press briefing.

“It is the common wish of people around the world to strike against the crime of drug trafficking. We urge the British to correct their mistake in order to avoid harming China-UK relations.”

Ambassador Fu Ying was summoned to the Foreign Office after the Chinese Embassy in London issued a statement insisting Shaikh’s rights and interests had been “properly respected”.

“As for his possible mental illness which has been much talked about, there apparently has been no previous medical record,” it went on.

The quantity of heroin brought into China was “enough to cause 26,800 deaths, threatening numerous families”, it said, concluding: “The legal structures of China and UK may be different, but it should not stand in the way of enhancing our bilateral relations on the basis of mutual respect.”

After the emergency talks, Mr Lewis, who earlier said the case made him “sick to the stomach”, said: “I had a difficult conversation with the Chinese Ambassador.

“I made clear that the execution of Mr Shaikh was totally unacceptable and that China had failed in its basic human rights responsibilities in this case, in particular that China’s court had not considered the representations made about Mr Shaikh’s mental condition.

“It is an important element of a mature bilateral relationship that we are able to speak frankly about issues on which we disagree and that those concerns are heard.”

Campaigners and family members held a candlelit vigil outside the Chinese embassy in London for the former cab firm manager.

It is believed Shaikh, who was homeless in Poland, was tricked into carrying drugs by a gang in the country who told him he could become a pop star in China.

The execution made Shaikh the first European to be executed in China for more than 50 years, according to campaigners.