Akmal Shaikh executed

[Chic Freak]

Anyone have any definitive, or even arguably decent sources to share on the issue of Mr. Shaikh's mental health? This collection of evidence, viewed as a whole, points to a delusional type mental illness in which the patient is not engaging with reality, i.e. is "on a different planet" to the rest of us: The testimonies of teachers, a priest, a photographer and a nun, all of whom had met him when he was homeless in Poland, and who believed him to be completely delusional and living in a fantasy world; The very fact that he was homeless, as many people remain homeless due to mental illness- he could have just gone home to his family; Being bad at music doesn't make you crazy but being obsessed with your crap rabbit song changing the world points to delusions of grandeur (and was reported well before the arrest); The concern expressed by his doctor (GP) that he was suffering from a progressive mental illness The Chinese government say he had no mental health issues when they brought him in. The claims were only made recently in the build up to his execution. Naturally his family and supporters demanded he be tested again but, y'know, there's just no fooling China. Actually, his British psychiatrist was not allowed to testify in court and his posted testimonies were ignored. Mr. Shaikh was also denied the opportunity to be evaluated by a Chinese mental health professional in China who could have testified in court. That is not fair. If they thought he was faking mental illness, they should have put him in front of a court psychiatrist and proved it!

[SRP76]

I don't buy the "he's ill" excuse. You don't just accidentally score a bunch of dope, just stumble into booking passage into China, and oops-excuse-me arrange to get back out. If he had enough mental acuity to accomplish all that, he's got mind enough. Good riddance.

[Mike70]

Actually, his British psychiatrist was not allowed to testify in court and his posted testimonies were ignored. Mr. Shaikh was also denied the opportunity to be evaluated by a Chinese mental health professional in China who could have testified in court. That is not fair. If they thought he was faking mental illness, they should have put him in front of a court psychiatrist and proved it! i've read up on this quite a bit since it appeared on my radar. i think the most disturbing thing about is that he was sentenced to death after a 30 min hearing, at which he was not given the opportunity to defend himself or present evidence. now, if any of you think that is "justice" or that it is ok because it is "the way china does things", i would suggest that you need to stop freebasing poprocks.

[Chic Freak]

You don't just accidentally score a bunch of dope, just stumble into booking passage into China, and oops-excuse-me arrange to get back out. If he had enough mental acuity to accomplish all that, he's got mind enough. Well he didn't, did he? and no-one's suggesting any of this was an accident, they are suggesting that he was set up by someone who didn't want to take the risk themselves.

[rongravy]

The verdict would be appropriate if the people handing down the judgement were kosher. Fucked up as it is, the law of the land is what you better follow. Or you better be prepared to face the consequences... This is why I stay out of places like that, or the Middle East. I prefer white friendly places, and there ain't very many. When I was in El Salvador I saw a sign ON THE ARMY BASE that said "Gringos a fueda de Salvador." This means whitey get out of our country. Funny since all the chicks there wanted to come back with me... The world is a shit sandwich and we will all have to eat our fill at some point. Extra mayo?

[krakenslayer]

I don't buy the "he's ill" excuse. You don't just accidentally score a bunch of dope, just stumble into booking passage into China, and oops-excuse-me arrange to get back out. If he had enough mental acuity to accomplish all that, he's got mind enough. Good riddance. That's a ridiculous argument. No one is saying he ACCIDENTALLY came into possession of the dope, but he clearly WAS manipulated into carrying it by fully compus mentus individuals who have escaped justice and let this poor fruit loop swing for it. Using your logic, other individuals lacking in adult, rational intellectual capacity who are exploited - for example, kids molested by some creep who offers them candy, tells them it's natural, and threatens them with blackmail if they snitch - would be considered "to blame" for what happens to them.

[Andy]

He looks pretty compus mentus to me. I Dont buy the im ill excuse either, he isnt ill. Someone has said to him "take this smack into china and ill pay you well" and unfortunatly (for him) he got caught. Well done china, we're too quick to make excuses for people in this country.

[capncnut]

That's a cab office radio mic to the left too. Believe me, that's NOT an easy job. Working in a London cab office is mentally exhausting and requires you to have your wits about you. I should know, I did it for five years.

[krakenslayer]

I'm not saying he's stupid. Mental illness does not equal stupid. I'm saying it's likely he was psychologically unstable, mentally immature and quite possibly pathologically gullible and someone, who is still walking free, probably manipulated him into doing it. Hey maybe I'm wrong, who knows. But that's the thing. We DON'T know for sure. He didn't get a fair and full trial, that's the whole point.

[Andy]

He didn't get a fair and full trial I Dont think its our place to say that, maybe he didnt by our standards but like i said we're too forgiving and willing to make excuses for people in this country and unfortunatly for him, he didnt get caught with 4 kilo's of smack here in the uk were he would probally of got a 12 month suspended sentence, he got caught in china. And they thought it was a fair trail. How they run things in their own country is really up to them.

[Tricky]

I Dont think its our place to say that, maybe he didnt by our standards but like i said we're too forgiving and willing to make excuses for people in this country and unfortunatly for him, he didnt get caught with 4 kilo's of smack here in the uk were he would probally of got a 12 month suspended sentence, he got caught in china. And they thought it was a fair trail. How they run things in their own country is really up to them. This sounds like a job for...

[krakenslayer]

How they run things in their own country is really up to them. That's what the British nobility said about the Nazis. TBH, I think it's the place of anyone and everyone to point out injustice wherever they see it. People on here do a good amount of that as it is, there's no difference here.

[Mike70]

That's what the British nobility said about the Nazis. TBH, I think it's the place of anyone and everyone to point out injustice wherever they see it. People on here do a good amount of that as it is, there's no difference here. indeed. nothing is above criticism. period. ---------- Post added at 07:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:03 PM ---------- And they thought it was a fair trail. this is entirely irrelevant to whether it actually was fair or not. fairness, like integrity, does not work on a sliding scale. this is also an extremely weak argument. many, many white southerners thought segregation was fair. was it really? did the fact that they thought it was fair have anything to do with how fair it was in actuality? no, it certainly didn't.

[Andy]

That's what the British nobility said about the Nazis. TBH, I think it's the place of anyone and everyone to point out injustice wherever they see it. People on here do a good amount of that as it is, there's no difference here. Im sorry but i see a great deal of difference between killing millions of people becuase of their religion and sentencing a single man to death for smuggling drugs which would, if they had hit the streets, killed over 26,000 innocent people. You dont? Im not talking about genocide and neither is anyone else in this argument, my point is that how the chinesse goverment deal with crime and criminals is up to them. Who are we to tell them how to deal with criminals anyway? Lets get a grip of our own justice system first before we start lecturing the rest of the world eh? this is entirely irrelevant to whether it actually was fair or not. fairness, like integrity, does not work on a sliding scale. this is also an extremely weak argument. many, many white southerners thought segregation was fair. was it really? did the fact that they thought it was fair have anything to do with how fair it was in actuality? no, it certainly didn't. Quite the contuary, fairness is like good and evil, its merely a point of view, not a fact. Im sure me and you have very different idea's of what fair is. dosnt make either of us right.

[krakenslayer]

Im sorry but i see a great deal of difference between killing millions of people becuase of their religion and sentencing a single man to death for smuggling drugs which would, if they had hit the streets, killed over 26,000 innocent people. You dont? yeah I do, but it's really irrelevant the point I am making. separate out the issues here: I drew no direct comparison between this guy and the Jews, in that particular post, I was talking only about the assertion that what goes on in other countries is none of our business. My point stands: I think people should do everything in their power to point out injustice, whether it be manifested, shout it from rooftops. Like Mike said, nothing is above criticism. Sure, your idea of justice may differ from someone else's, but it's still your responsibility as a free human being to fight whatever YOU, as an individual, see as unjust. In my humble opinion. Lets get a grip of our own justice system first before we start lecturing the rest of the world eh? Our justice system isn't so hot, but so what? I didn't think it up and neither did you. At a personal level, we had no more of a hand in dreaming up the laws which govern our country than we had with those that govern China. We criticise the British system, we can criticise the Chinese system, it really doesn't matter what geographical or political region we happen to reside in. I wouldn't, for example, have an issue with a well-informed Chinaman going off on one about British politics, so long as he accepted the problems with China's own political situation.