英国毒贩阿克毛于去年携海洛因入境，被中国海关查处。根据中华人民共和国法律依法判处死刑，于今日执行。这将是中国政府半个世纪以来首次处死西方公民。

　　China approves death for British smuggler

　　BEIJING: China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) said Tuesday that it had reviewed and approved the death sentence against Akmal Shaikh, a British man who was convicted of smuggling drugs into China。

　　Shaikh,53, male, was caught carrying up to 4,030 grams of heroin at the international airport of Urumqi in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous from Dushanbe, capital of Tajikstan, on the morning of September 12, 2007.

　　Shaikh was sentenced to death in the first instance by the Intermediate People's Court of Urumqi on October 29, 2008 andhis final verdict came in October after two failed appeals。

　　The SPC said in a statement that Shaikh had broken China's Criminal Law by smuggling huge amounts of heroin, and "the evidence was certain and the facts were clear."

　　His behavior constituted the crime of drug smuggling and the crime committed was extremely serious, the SPC said。

　　It said the sentence handed down by the Intermediate People's Court of Urumqi in accordance with Article 48 and 347 of China's Criminal Lawwas appropriate。

　　China's Criminal Law stipulates that people trafficking more than 50 grams of heroin are punishable by death。

　　The SPC also said that the defendant's litigation rights and legitimate treatment had been fully granted in custody and trial。

　　Officials from the British embassy in China and a British organization hadproposed a mental disease examination on Akmal Shaikh, but thedocuments they provided could not prove he had mental disorder nor didmembers of his family have history of mental disease, the SPC said。

　　Akmal Shaikh himself did not provide relevant materials regarding him having a mental disease, according to the SPC。

　　"There is no reason to cast doubt on Akmal Shaikh's mental status," the SPC said.11

　　中国处决英国毒贩 家属最后恳求

　　英国在最后时刻展开了与中国的“疯狂谈判”。于27日赶赴中国的阿克毛家人又是要向中国领导人递交请求书，又是要向中国人大提交申请，还要申请中国最高法院复审。英国驻华大使也在一天前前往新疆探监。配合这些行动的是英国媒体在本土对阿克毛“悲情”的渲染。

　　据英国《独立报》27日报道，在去新疆探望自己的弟弟之前，阿克毛的两位堂兄将向中国领导人递交请求书。同时，他们也要向中国最高法院和新疆地方法院分别递交法律请求书，希望法院复审案件。此外，据英国广播公司(BBC)27日报道，两人还计划向中国全国人大常委会提交申请。据报道，他们试图在28日晚探监。

　　除了家人，英国政府也在加紧行动。BBC称，在过去6个月内，英国政府曾就阿克毛的案件同中国进行了10次交涉，但迄今中国拒绝了所有关于免除他死刑的呼吁。留在英国的阿克毛家人打着“亲情牌”，媒体对此大加渲染。

　　北京大学国际关系学院副院长贾庆国表示，西方在像赖昌星案这样的事情上和中国打交道时，常常以三权分立和司法独立作为理由，但在涉及自己公民时，做的却是想让中国政府干预司法独立的事。

　　中国外交部发言人马朝旭今年10月13日曾经在例行记者会上表示，中方对涉嫌贩毒的英国籍男子审判符合中国法律规定，目前此案正在由最高人民法院复核。马朝旭表示，有关案件审理程序符合中国法律规定。审理期间，被告人和辩护人都自由行使了辩护权，并为被告聘请了翻译，依法充分保障了他的诉讼权利。