China has revoked the death sentence of Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, a Canadian official said Friday, sparking a diplomatic meltdown as prime minister. Mark Carney Seeks to increase trade ties with Beijing.
Schellenberg’s lawyer, Zhang Dongshu, arrived in Beijing on Saturday to confirm that the decision was announced on Friday of China Supreme Court.
Schellenberg was detained on drug charges in 2014 before Sino-Canada ties were severed following the 2018 arrest of Huawei’s chief financial officer in Vancouver. Meng Wanzhou.
That arrest angered Beijing, which detained two Canadians – Michael Spaver And Michael Kovrig – Denied by Ottawa as retaliation for espionage charges.
Then in January 2019 a court in northeast China tried Schellenberg again – he was 36 at the time. Sentence him to death He announced that his 15-year prison sentence for drug trafficking was too light.
The court said he was a key player in a scheme to smuggle drugs into Australia in what Amnesty International called a “gross breach of international law”.
Schellenberg denied wrongdoing.
The Canadian official requested anonymity to confirm China’s top court’s decision to overturn Schellenberg’s death sentence.
Zhang said Schellenberg, who has been based in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian since 2014, will be retried by the Liaoning High People’s Court. A date for the retrial has not yet been set.
Zhang said he met Schellenberg in Dalian on Friday and the Canadian seemed relatively relaxed.
Carney, who took office last year, visited China in January as part of his global effort to reduce trade dependence on the US to expand Canada’s export markets.
“Global Affairs Canada (GAC) is aware of the decision issued by the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China in the case of Mr. Robert Schellenberg,” Canadian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Thida Ith said in a statement.
The ministry “will continue to provide consular services to Mr. Schellenberg and his family,” adding: “Canada advocates for clemency in this case, as it does for all Canadians who have been sentenced to death.”
US President Donald Trump has damaged key sectors of Canada’s economy Trump’s tariffsand Canada no longer considers the US a reliable trading partner, Carney said.
Despite ongoing tensions, including allegations of Chinese meddling in Canadian elections, Carney said Ottawa must maintain a working relationship with Beijing to secure its economic future.
While in Beijing last month, Carney met Chinese leader Xi Jinping And It ushered in a better era in relationshipssaid the two countries had signed a “new strategic partnership” and a basic trade agreement.
Global Affairs Canada did not comment on whether diplomacy during Carney’s visit to the Schellenberg case influenced the Chinese court’s decision.
“Due to privacy considerations, no further information will be provided,” Ith said.
Zhang said Carney’s visit raised his hopes that the Chinese court would announce a relatively positive outcome for his client.
Meng, charged with conspiring to evade US sanctions on Iran – which she denies – was released in September 2021.
Spavor and Kovrig were released in the same month.
