http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8433285.stm

 

A British man convicted of drug smuggling in China has been executed.

 

Read the full story on the link above.

 

What's your views?

 

I'm really shocked and disturbed that China executed him. I know that drug smuggling is a serious crime but the death penalty is way too extreme. I know China is a communist country but surely they should have handed Akmal (who suffered from a mental illness) back to the UK to serve his punishment.

I spent a term learning about China's government (as part of my Comparative Government course) and not once did I learn that China still had the death penalty. That or I didn't pay attention......

 

so I was shocked to find out that they did

I never knew China used the death penalty either, it's news to me! It's quite shocking, that they executed one of our citizens without sending him back to the UK to be punished. Don't know what to think of it tbh :/

Capital punishment is common in the People's Republic of China. Apparently in 2008 they executed up to 1700 people which is a horrific figure.

 

The guy was caught with a massive stash of Class A drugs, Chinese laws rightly or wrongly carry the death penalty for drug trafficing and this guy did that so I can't really understand the outcry

 

Some have said that he should have gone free because he is bi polar but I have friends with bi polar and they know the difference between right and wrong so yeah justice was done IMHO, the fact he is British should not make him above the law

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8433285.stm

 

A British man convicted of drug smuggling in China has been executed.

 

Read the full story on the link above.

 

What's your views?

 

I'm really shocked and disturbed that China executed him. I know that drug smuggling is a serious crime but the death penalty is way too extreme. I know China is a communist country but surely they should have handed Akmal (who suffered from a mental illness) back to the UK to serve his punishment.

 

It is not just China that has the death penalty for drug trafficing Kate it is also the case in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Burma, most of the far east

If you go into a different country, then you're agreeing to abide by THEIR laws. Drug smuggling is punishable by death in China, and therefore when this guy crossed the border into China, he was legitimately subject to the Chinese legal system.

 

If this guy genuinely was mentally ill, then maybe it's a bit different... but is there actually any proof of it? Is the only proof the word of his family? Maybe there should've been a mental health assessment atleast... but assuming he is mentally sound, then no matter how much we disagree with him being executed, we have to respect that that is China's legitimate punishment for his crime.

Capital punishment is common in the People's Republic of China. Apparently in 2008 they executed up to 1700 people which is a horrific figure.

That's the official figure. According to Amnesty International the real figure is probably more like 6000. They execute more people than the rest of the world put together.

The guy was caught with a massive stash of Class A drugs, Chinese laws rightly or wrongly carry the death penalty for drug trafficing and this guy did that so I can't really understand the outcry

 

Some have said that he should have gone free because he is bi polar but I have friends with bi polar and they know the difference between right and wrong so yeah justice was done IMHO, the fact he is British should not make him above the law

 

And that in a nutshell is my view as well.

 

I personally think the Death Penalty is abhorrent; however I very firmly believe individuals must respect the law and culture of the country they are in.

 

The outcry today from the bleeding heart liberal socialist politically correct do gooders today who always seem to support the well being of the criminal and not the potential victims of a crime has made me sick to the stomach. I guess they would much rather see 4,030g of heroin imported into this country, enough to cause 26,800 deaths that could cause further misery and agony to families.

 

Thank goodness the overwhelming majority of British posters on the BBC Have Your Say website have expressed approval to the attitude of the Chinese government towards drug smuggling, even if like myself they don't believe in the death penalty. No doubt the unelected liberal socialist do gooders who seem to run the bureaucracy of whichever government in power will dismiss them as "Daily Mail readers" like they always seem to do in cases like this.

As Danny says, you have to abide by the laws of the country you are in, and if they have harsher punishments for offences, so be it. You might be executed.

And that in a nutshell is my view as well.

 

I personally think the Death Penalty is abhorrent; however I very firmly believe individuals must respect the law and culture of the country they are in.

 

The outcry today from the bleeding heart liberal socialist politically correct do gooders today who always seem to support the well being of the criminal and not the potential victims of a crime has made me sick to the stomach. I guess they would much rather see 4,030g of heroin imported into this country, enough to cause 26,800 deaths that could cause further misery and agony to families.

 

Thank goodness the overwhelming majority of British posters on the BBC Have Your Say website have expressed approval to the attitude of the Chinese government towards drug smuggling, even if like myself they don't believe in the death penalty. No doubt the unelected liberal socialist do gooders who seem to run the bureaucracy of whichever government in power will dismiss them as "Daily Mail readers" like they always seem to do in cases like this.

 

 

Exactly

 

I was disappointed to read this too - Conservative leader David Cameron echoed the condemnation, saying he "deplored and deeply regretted" the execution - Which will mean nothing will change in that regard next year

 

I think it was incredibly arrogant of Labour to haul in the Chinese ambassador for a bollocking when all they were doing was observing their own national laws, laws which are on display prominently at every national airport within the region

 

I have travelled both on business and to F1 races in the far east and the first thing you see when you get off the plane and in massive writing in arrivals passport control is "Drug Smuggling Is Punishable By Death" so it is not like some secret hidden law

 

Even if this guy was bi polar he knew he wasn't taking chocolate bars into the country, bi polar does not affect mental age or IQ so I have no sympathy for him

 

I don't like the death penalty but when someone gets off a plane they are subject to the laws of that nation so I have no issues with China over this

 

Exactly

 

I was disappointed to read this too - Conservative leader David Cameron echoed the condemnation, saying he "deplored and deeply regretted" the execution - Which will mean nothing will change in that regard next year

 

I think it was incredibly arrogant of Labour to haul in the Chinese ambassador for a bollocking when all they were doing was observing their own national laws, laws which are on display prominently at every national airport within the region

 

I have travelled both on business and to F1 races in the far east and the first thing you see when you get off the plane and in massive writing in arrivals passport control is "Drug Smuggling Is Punishable By Death" so it is not like some secret hidden law

 

Even if this guy was bi polar he knew he wasn't taking chocolate bars into the country, bi polar does not affect mental age or IQ so I have no sympathy for him

 

I don't like the death penalty but when someone gets off a plane they are subject to the laws of that nation so I have no issues with China over this

 

It makes you think though - an asylum seeker who came from Iraq to the UK who was driving without a licence and insurance knocked over and killed a child and fled the scene managed to get a few years in jail and also has the right to stay in UK because he supposedly has a family in the UK. He had also been in trouble with the police previous with dangerous driving where as Akmal who has probably never had a criminal record in his life - lost his own life by being tricked in drug trafficking. Isn’t deportation the answer?

It makes you think though - an asylum seeker who came from Iraq to the UK who was driving without a licence and insurance knocked over and killed a child and fled the scene managed to get a few years in jail and also has the right to stay in UK because he supposedly has a family in the UK. He had also been in trouble with the police previous with dangerous driving where as Akmal who has probably never had a criminal record in his life - lost his own life by being tricked in drug trafficking. Isn’t deportation the answer?

 

There is no evidence that he was tricked though, everyone who is caught smuggling has a template answer that they were tricked

 

You have to have lived on the moon to not know it is crass stupidity to take someone's package onto an aeroplane especially to country's like that

 

Airlines ask you at check in too if you packed your own bags, did anyone have access to your bag etc so that is not a defence too

 

 

And that in a nutshell is my view as well.

 

I personally think the Death Penalty is abhorrent; however I very firmly believe individuals must respect the law and culture of the country they are in.

 

The outcry today from the bleeding heart liberal socialist politically correct do gooders today who always seem to support the well being of the criminal and not the potential victims of a crime has made me sick to the stomach. I guess they would much rather see 4,030g of heroin imported into this country, enough to cause 26,800 deaths that could cause further misery and agony to families.

 

Thank goodness the overwhelming majority of British posters on the BBC Have Your Say website have expressed approval to the attitude of the Chinese government towards drug smuggling, even if like myself they don't believe in the death penalty. No doubt the unelected liberal socialist do gooders who seem to run the bureaucracy of whichever government in power will dismiss them as "Daily Mail readers" like they always seem to do in cases like this.

Since when did you turn so dramatically right-wing? :blink: (And to be honest, given you're using the exact same jargon as the Daily Mail, would you consider it any surprise whatsoever that you'd be dismissed as one?) And great company you're keeping with the Have Your Say posters who are infamous for their ill-informed rants (it's the sort of place where Crazy Chris would blend right in given the majority of opinions you see in there...)

 

On this issue, I would say we needed more information. I can't pass judgement on the case, and obviously I don't support the death penalty, but the entire issue rests on the extent to which this man's mental illness affected him. Instinctively I would've said that if the man did have mental illness then he really should've had a full evaluation before being sentenced to death...

Since when did you turn so dramatically right-wing? :blink: (And to be honest, given you're using the exact same jargon as the Daily Mail, would you consider it any surprise whatsoever that you'd be dismissed as one?) And great company you're keeping with the Have Your Say posters who are infamous for their ill-informed rants (it's the sort of place where Crazy Chris would blend right in given the majority of opinions you see in there...)

 

On this issue, I would say we needed more information. I can't pass judgement on the case, and obviously I don't support the death penalty, but the entire issue rests on the extent to which this man's mental illness affected him. Instinctively I would've said that if the man did have mental illness then he really should've had a full evaluation before being sentenced to death...

 

I'm hardly right wing as I have never voted Conservative in any local, General or European election in my life. Believe me, when Margaret Thatcher dies I will be a very interesting person to be around as I will be celebrating the death of that hateful vindictive evil witch who did so much damage to this country in the 1980s. Besides David Cameron has condoned the execution of the drug smuggler.

 

But on law and order I have very simplistic views as I regard British society and laws as far far far to sympathetic to the well being of the criminals and nowhere near enough respect to the victims of crime, as I firmly believe criminals should be punished not pampered.

Since when did you turn so dramatically right-wing? :blink: (And to be honest, given you're using the exact same jargon as the Daily Mail, would you consider it any surprise whatsoever that you'd be dismissed as one?) And great company you're keeping with the Have Your Say posters who are infamous for their ill-informed rants (it's the sort of place where Crazy Chris would blend right in given the majority of opinions you see in there...)

 

On this issue, I would say we needed more information. I can't pass judgement on the case, and obviously I don't support the death penalty, but the entire issue rests on the extent to which this man's mental illness affected him. Instinctively I would've said that if the man did have mental illness then he really should've had a full evaluation before being sentenced to death...

 

He had bi polar which is a depressive illness, I have both online and offline friends with bipolar both bipolar 1 and bipolar 2 and they function perfectly normally and hold down jobs / degree study so he was not mentally ill in the sense that he had a mental age of 10 or whatever, if he had it would have been different but depression/moodswings does not affect someone's ability to know the difference between right and wrong so this "mental illness" thing is trotted out by the tree huggers/ do gooders / liberals / pc brigade as some excuse when in reality bi polar sufferers lead perfectly normal lives

 

It does not make someone a right winger / Daily Mail reader to say that people going to countries should respect/live by that country's laws and likewise face the consequences of their actions if they break the law of that country which 4kg of heroin clearly does

Edited December 29, 200915 yr by B.A Baracus

It makes you think though - an asylum seeker who came from Iraq to the UK who was driving without a licence and insurance knocked over and killed a child and fled the scene managed to get a few years in jail and also has the right to stay in UK because he supposedly has a family in the UK. He had also been in trouble with the police previous with dangerous driving where as Akmal who has probably never had a criminal record in his life - lost his own life by being tricked in drug trafficking. Isn’t deportation the answer?

 

But we have to respect other countries' legal systems. Let's just flip the situation round here... in many Islamic countries, it is totally legal for a man to abuse his wife (including Afghanistan, a country the West supposedly liberated). Say a man from Sudan came over to Britain and settles down with a British woman, and beats her viciously behind closed doors. Eventually, he gets found out and is given a lengthy jail sentence. Would the Sudanese government be within their rights to protest, saying he had not broken the law of the country he was a citizen of? Nope - by living in this country, this guy would have had to accept he would have to comply with our legal system or face the consequences, just like a Brit has to face the consequences if they don't comply with the Chinese legal system.

Edited December 29, 200915 yr by Danny

I'm hardly right wing as I have never voted Conservative in any local, General or European election in my life. Believe me, when Margaret Thatcher dies I will be a very interesting person to be around as I will be celebrating the death of that hateful vindictive evil witch who did so much damage to this country in the 1980s. Besides David Cameron has condoned the execution of the drug smuggler.

 

But on law and order I have very simplistic views as I regard British society and laws as far far far to sympathetic to the well being of the criminals and nowhere near enough respect to the victims of crime, as I firmly believe criminals should be punished not pampered.

Not that old bollocks again. If Britain is so soft, why do we have the largest prison population per head of population in western Europe? Larger even than countries like Turkey? It's probably true that more should be done to help victims of crime but that doesn't have to mean harsher punishment for criminals.

Not that old bollocks again. If Britain is so soft, why do we have the largest prison population per head of population in western Europe? Larger even than countries like Turkey? It's probably true that more should be done to help victims of crime but that doesn't have to mean harsher punishment for criminals.

 

I could not disagree more. The main reason most UK and international social and criminal experts reckon we have such a high prison population is because our sentencing and punishment system is so soft compared to other countries resulting in a lack of stigma attached to criminal offences in this country.

 

Our prisons are reckoned to be the most cushiest in the world resulting in a huge number of career criminals. If you made the punishment to certain offences far more severe then the result would be a reduction in the amount of those criminal acts occurring. Whilst we spend more on prison welfare (cost per head) than virtually any other EU country.

 

For example do you seriously think if the government announced a zero limit on drink driving tomorrow that people would continue the same drinking habits they had previously?

 

FFS most countries look at the UK and think we are insane for spending more on help and welfare for criminals than help and welfare for the victims of crime.

Not that old bollocks again. If Britain is so soft, why do we have the largest prison population per head of population in western Europe? Larger even than countries like Turkey? It's probably true that more should be done to help victims of crime but that doesn't have to mean harsher punishment for criminals.

 

I saw the other day that there are something like 27 organisations to help criminals and prisoners and THREE to help VICTIMS, it should be the other way round, that is a fukkin pisstake

 

Thanks to the criminal justice system being hijacked by the do gooder lentil eating sandal wearing liberals and political correctness eating away at the system like a cancer the rights of victims are an afterthought to the wellbeing and human rights of the criminal

 

There should be more prisons built, much more emphasis put on the victims of crime as opposed to the criminal, more emphasis on punishment and less on jail comforts, much more hard work done by prisoners instead of tv and PS3