Canada will keep up fight for Schellenberg's clemency after death sentence ruling upheld: Lametti

OTTAWA -

The federal government is condemning a decision by a Chinese court to uphold a death sentence against Canadian Robert Schellenberg, underscoring that Canada will continue to fight for his clemency.

Justice Minister David Lametti wouldn’t expand on whether he believes there’s a connection between the Schellenberg verdict and the case of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou that’s before a Vancouver court, but he noted Canada will use all tools at its disposal to fight it.

“What I can say is we condemn in the strongest possible terms this death sentence for Mr. Schellenberg, we continue to seek clemency on his behalf. Canada opposes the death penalty in all cases and that continues with respect to that particular case,” he said, speaking to reporters on Tuesday.

Schellenberg was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2018 on drug smuggling charges, which increased to a death sentence in January 2019, just weeks after the detention of Meng in B.C. on a U.S. extradition request.

Canada’s Ambassador to China Dominic Barton told reporters after the verdict by the Higher People's Court of Liaoning Province that “[Schellenberg]’s retrial and subsequent sentence were arbitrary” and that Canada remains “deeply concerned by China’s arbitrary use of the death penalty.”

Barton added, "I don't think it's a coincidence these are happening right now while events are going on in Vancouver." He said the case was "part of the geopolitical process."

It’s one of two important verdicts that will be handed down this week – the second involving Michael Spavor, who has been detained in a Chinese prison for nearly 1,000 days.

Spavor, an entrepreneur, and Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, were apprehended on state spying charges days following the arrest of Meng. They have received sparse consular visits and neither have been granted bail, unlike Meng.

Barton said he would travel later Tuesday to the northeastern city of Dandong to see Spavor.

According to government documents obtained by CTV News, his ruling will be delivered tonight, at 10 p.m. EDT at the Dandong Detention Centre Court. He’ll be joined by his lawyer and other consular officials. Spavor will have ten days to submit an appeal.

Barton said they have not received Kovrig’s verdict details.

NEXT STEPS

Former Ambassador to China Guy Saint-Jacques said the Schellenberg verdict is “unfortunate,” but not unexpected as it’s rare for a ruling to be overturned in the judicial system there.

Asked what Canada should do next, he said “not much can be done,” while reflecting on a similar case when he was ambassador.

“I can tell you that when I was ambassador, I was faced with a similar problem in as much as we had two Canadians who were on death row. We tried every day to ask for clemency. In fact, then-prime minister Stephen Harper wrote a personal letter to President Xi on the eve of the execution, and this to no avail. I think what our efforts resulted in at best was to delay the execution by about one year,” he told CTV’s News Channel on Tuesday.

“I don’t have much hope at this stage.”

Commenting on the Meng case, Saint-Jacques said the best case for Canada would be for the judge to rule that her rights were violated when she was arrested, the U.S. has manipulated the case, and order that she be released.

“That would be the elegant solution for Canada, but I don’t see this happening really, which means that the only hope for an earlier solution to all these problems has to come from Washington, [they] would have to put some water in their wine and try to negotiate a plea bargain with Ms. Meng that she would find acceptable,” he said.

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole weighed in on the situation on Tuesday, noting that it’s worth the federal government considering a boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

“Beijing has to know that the world is watching the genocide taking place against the Uyghurs, they’ve watched what’s been happening in Hong Kong and the situation with Mr. Schellenberg, Mr. Spavor, and Mr. Kovrig, the world is watching,” he said.

“We’re proud of our athletes, we’re celebrating, but we also have to recognize the actions of a country that wants to host the games.”

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said the government’s focus needs to be centred on securing the release of Spavor and Kovrig and saving the life of Schellenberg.

“We need to make sure we’re doing everything possible to protect Canadians, protect their lives, to secure their release, so I’ll be again encouraging the use of every resource possible, all tools possible, working with allies to protect Canadians,” he said Tuesday.

With a file from The Associated Press.