Brit to be Executed in China

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   From Brown...  

 Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband have condemned the execution of the British National Akmal Shaikh in China on Tuesday 29 December. 

The Prime Minister said:
"I condemn the execution of Akmal Shaikh in the strongest terms, and am appalled and disappointed that our persistent requests for clemency have not been granted. I am particularly concerned that no mental health assessment was undertaken.
At this time our thoughts are with Mr Shaikh’s family and friends and I send them our sincere condolences".

Foreign secretary...

"I condemn in the strongest terms the execution of the British national Akmal Shaikh. I join the Prime Minister in expressing my deepest condolences to Mr Shaikh's family and friends.
The UK is completely opposed to the use of the death penalty in all circumstances. However I also deeply regret the fact that our specific concerns about the individual in this case were not taken into consideration despite repeated calls by the Prime Minister, Ministerial colleagues and me. These included mental health issues, and inadequate professional interpretation during the trial.

Read David Miliband's blog 
Foreign Office Minister Ivan Lewis commented on the execution of Akmal Shaikh during interviews with BBC Radio. He said:
"As the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have said, it's a deeply depressing day for anyone with a modicum of compassion or commitment to justice in Britain and throughout the world. Our thoughts are with Mr Shaikh's family at this dreadful time. 
It's true he was found guilty of a serious crime but it's equally clear that he had serious mental health problems, and the unwillingness of the Chinese courts to take account of this and request a proper medical assessment is reprehensible."

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?view=News&id=21498748

While Mr Brown led the condemnation of the execution, it was the comments from Ivan Lewis, a Foreign Office minister, that were the most incendiary. 
Mr Lewis said the execution made him “sick to the stomach”, and that it was “reprehensible” and “entirely unacceptable” that Mr Shaikh’s mental health was not assessed before he was put to death. 

 They said they were “astonished” that the Chinese had said it was up to the condemned man to provide evidence of his history of manic depression. 

“We find it ludicrous that any mentally ill person should be expected to provide this, especially when this was bipolar disorder, in which we understand the sufferer has a distorted view of the world, including his own condition. That this was regarded as sufficient grounds for refusal by the judicial authorities to order any mental health assessment is shocking to us,” the cousins said in a statement.

On Monday, six witnesses who knew Mr Shaikh came forward with further evidence of his long history of delusional behaviour. 