OTTAWA—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned a Chinese court’s decision Monday to sentence a Canadian man to death on drug trafficking charges, but there is new reason to doubt that China will be persuaded to grant clemency. The Star has learned that China has previously dismissed clemency pleas by a former prime minister, Stephen Harper, and former governor-general David Johnston against imposing the death penalty on Canadians in two cases.The Former Canadian ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques, said in an interview he was personally involved in steps taken by the embassy and the Canadian government, including personally delivering a letter Harper wrote seeking to prevent the execution of two Canadians of Chinese origin. Saint-Jacques recalls it occurred in late 2014 or early 2015, in separate drug trafficking cases in Guangdong province.“I think what we just succeeded in doing was delay their execution by maybe one year.”That’s cause for alarm as Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg faces execution by a Chinese justice system that had previously sentenced him to 15 years in jail on charges of smuggling 222 kilograms of crystal meth. A Chinese appeal court had ordered the sentence reviewed in late December, and after a one-day hearing the prosecution request to toughen the sentence was granted. Schellenberg, reported to have prior drug convictions in B.C., now has 10 days to file an appeal.Read more:China acting ‘arbitrarily’ in imposing drug case death sentence, Trudeau saysChinese court orders new trial for Canadian in drug caseJustin Trudeau shuffles cabinet, Jane Philpott takes over as Treasury Board presidentSaint-Jacques says the two Canadians previously executed in China were dual citizens. One had entered China on his Canadian passport, the other had travelled on a Chinese travel document. In the latter case, he said, China did not recognize the man’s dual citizenship and dealt with him as a Chinese cit ...
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