1. "In the past two years, four Japanese and a British national were also executed in China for drug trafficking. Persistent pleas for clemency by their respective governments' officials and diplomats failed.
2. Britain had done everything within its power to secure a fair trial and clemency for Akmal Shaikh who was found guilty of drug smuggling in 2007. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has intervened personally on a number of occasions: he has raised the case with Premier Wen Jiabao, including at the Copenhagen summit, and has written several times to President Hu Jintao to appeal for clemency for Shaikh but to no avail. Shaikh was executed by lethal injection on December 29, 2009.
3. In April 2010, four Japanese nationals convicted of drug trafficking - Mitsunobo Akano, Teruo Takeda, Hironori Ukai, and Katsuo Mori - were executed in China even if Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada expressed concern over possible backlash from Japan in his reported meeting with Chinese Ambassador Cheng Yonghua. The Japanese government just appealed to the Japanese people to understand that execution is legal punishment for drug smuggling in China and there was not much that Japan could do to interfere in this."
Talking Points on the Issue of the Execution of Filipino Drug Couriers in China
1. The Philippine government provided the three Filipinos all possible legal and consular assistance. The government ensured that their legal rights were respected and observed and their welfare protected from the time of their arrest and throughout the judicial process and even up to this day. We have also exhausted all possible representations to appeal the cases of the three.
2. The Philippines respect and will abide with the Chinese laws and the finality of the verdict of the Supreme People's Court of China. Drug smuggling is a serious crime and the Chinese criminal law automatically stipulates mandatory death sentence for smuggling heroin in quantities more than 50 grams. The Chinese judiciary is independent of the government and that the Supreme Court had made a decision and is vigorous in defending its justice system.
3. In the past two years, four Japanese and a British national were also executed in China for drug trafficking. Persistent pleas for clemency by their respective governments' officials and diplomats failed. Britain had done everything within its power to secure a fair trial and clemency for Akmal Shaikh who was found guilty of drug smuggling in 2007.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has intervened personally on a number of occasions: he has raised the case with Premier Wen Jiabao, including at the Copenhagen summit, and has written several times to President Hu Jintao to appeal for clemency for Shaikh but to no avail. Shaikh was executed by lethal injection on December 29, 2009.
In April 2010, four Japanese nationals convicted of drug trafficking - Mitsunobu Akano, Teruo Takeda, Hironori Ukai, and Katsuo Mori - were executed in China even if Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada expressed concern over possible backlash from Japan in his reported meeting with Chinese Ambassador Cheng Yonghua. The Japanese government just appealed to the Japanese people to understand that execution is legal punishment for drug smuggling in China and there was not much that Japan could do to interfere in this.
4. According to the DFA, the families of the three Filipinos set for execution have been informed of the carrying out of the sentences and arrangements are being made for them to depart for China this weekend in order to visit and see their loved ones,
5. We are appealing to all Filipinos, especially those overseas, to be extremely cautious when dealing with strangers in airports and other areas of transit and not to allow themselves to be victimized by international drug syndicates.
No comments:
Post a Comment