A Canadian was sentenced to death in China on Monday after a new drug trial, a move Ottawa said was "very worrisome" and likely to worsen tension between the two countries.
Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, 36, was sentenced in 2018, in a first judgment, a 15-year prison sentence - a verdict deemed too "lenient" end of December by the Chinese justice. He claimed his innocence all day in a court in the city of Dalian, to no avail.
"The court totally rejects the explanations and the defense of the accused, because they go against the facts," said the judge, pronouncing the verdict in a packed courtroom, where about 70 observers had taken place. Among them were Canadian diplomats and three foreign journalists, including one from AFP.
"It is very worrying that China is beginning to act arbitrarily to enforce the death penalty, especially to a Canadian," said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, promising to intervene.
A few hours later, Ottawa officially called on Canadians traveling to China to "be very cautious" about the "risk of arbitrary application of local laws".
Sino-Canadian diplomatic relations have been strained since the arrest in early December by Canada, at US request, of Meng Wanzhou, the financial director of China's telecommunications giant Huawei.
Michael Spavor
In the process, China has arrested two Canadians: an ex-diplomat, Michael Kovrig, and a consultant, Michael Spavor. The Chinese authorities accuse them of "threatening national security". These arrests are widely perceived in the West as retaliatory measures.
Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, dressed in a white sweater and black pants, acquiesced when the Dalian court judge asked him if he understood the verdict. He can now appeal.
"A liar"
Sentenced in first instance in November to 15 years in prison and 150,000 yuan fine, Mr. Schellenberg appealed. But the move was turned against him, with the Liaoning Province High Court judging the verdict too "indulgent" and ordering a new trial.
"I am not a drug dealer. I came to China to go sightseeing, "he said Monday during his trial.
But the court ruled that the Canadian, arrested in December 2014, had played a "key role" in a gang involved in drug trafficking. "Not content to spread drugs in a country, the criminal organization has spread beyond the borders (...) It harms the human health and stability of countries," hammered the court.
Schellenberg said Monday before the judges came to China after traveling to Laos, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore or Thailand.
He claims that a friend recommended him a tourist interpreter, a Chinese named Xu Qing, then he was involuntarily involved in an international drug trafficking network.
"This case concerns Xu Qing. He is an international drug dealer and a liar, "said Robert Lloyd Schellenberg at the helm. He believes that the brain of the network is Khamla Wong, a Canadian arrested in 2016 in Thailand and suspected of drug trafficking.
Precipitation?
Chinese prosecutors accused Robert Lloyd Schellenberg of being part of a gang that planned to send 222 kilos of methamphetamine to Australia, hidden in plastic pellets hidden in tires.
Review trials are relatively rare in China, especially those resulting in heavier sentences.
Foreign human rights NGOs question the independence of the courts and claim that they are under the influence of the ruling Communist Party. "There are many issues in this case that raise serious questions. Especially the haste with which this new trial was organized, "said AFP William Nee, Amnesty International, after the verdict. "Clearly, China wants to send a message of firmness to Canada."
Ottawa said it followed the case "very closely". Beijing, for its part, denied any pressure on Chinese justice and called for "not politicizing judicial issues".
Foreigners have already been sentenced to death in China for crimes related to drug trafficking.
In December 2009, Britain's Akmal Shaikh was the first European executed in that Asian country for 58 years, according to Reprieve, a British legal aid association.
Four Japanese drug traffickers were also executed in April 2010.
China also sentenced a Filipino trafficker to death in 2013, ignoring Manila's request to save his life, according to the Philippine Foreign Ministry.