The Execution of Akmal Shaikh: A demonstration of Britain's "Powerlessness in the World"?

On December 29th 2009, at approximately 10am Urumqi (China) time, Akmal Shaikh was executed after being convicted of attempting to smuggle 4kg of heroin into China. Shaikh, a sufferer of bi-polar disorder, had allegedly been tricked into carrying the package into China by a group of men who has duped him into thinking that he would be rewarded with the opportunity to record a hit record upon arrival. Shaikh had been arrested for his crime on September 12th, 2007 and had been in custody, unbeknownsed to the UK government for a full year, in Urumqi. His initial trial lasted 30 minutes, his first appeal was rejected in May 2008. during his second appeal, he was allowed to speak for himself. During his testimony, Judges openly laughed at his appeal for clemency on May 26th, 2009. 7 months and 3 days later, Akmal Shaikh was dead.


The press and UK government representatives were informed that Shaikh was executed by lethal injection, a cocktail similar to that used in the United States: sodium thiopental (to induce a loss of consciousness), pancironium bromide (to halt breathing), and potassium chloride (to stop the heart). The drugs, if administered correctly, can take a mere minute to kill someone. If given improperly, death can be excruciating and can take significantly longer to reach its desired effect; death.

Reprieve, a group condemning the death penalty, stated that Shaikh was the first EU citizen to be executed in China in over 50 years.


Gordon Brown openly condemned the decision and the plan of action of the Chinese government...yet, they dismissed and ultimately ignored his plea for clemency. It seems as though, appeals by the government were left...with the exception of a few 'diplomats' that pleaded on the PM's behalf...at that. Would this have happened 10 or 20 years ago? What has happened to one of the World's classic "Superpowers"? Why, all of a sudden, has the United Kingdom, once revered by many after it's pioneering Industrial Revolution, has it become a Lame-Duck Superpower? And why have China, in what has been called a powermove, executed a seemingly mentally unstable man? How is his execution being avenged? Can it be? These are all questions that the British Government needs to answer. This is because one of the most terrible crimes that could be commited, second to Akmal Shaikh being executed in the first place, would be for his execution to be forgotten.