Chinese court rejects Canadian's appeal of death sentence

A Chinese court has rejected an appeal by a Canadian whose sentence in a drug case was increased to death after an executive of tech giant Huawei was detained in Vancouver

BEIJING -- A Chinese court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by a Canadian whose sentence in a drug case was increased to death while Beijing was trying to pressure Canada to release a detained executive of tech giant Huawei. Robert Schellenberg was sentenced to prison in November 2018 after being convicted of drug smuggling. He was abruptly resentenced to death in January 2019 following the arrest of the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Ltd. in Vancouver. Meng Wanzhou was detained on U.S. charges related to possible dealings with Iran. The Higher People’s Court of Liaoning Province rejected Schellenberg's appeal and said court procedures were legal and the sentence appropriate. It sent the case to the Chinese supreme court for review, as is required by law before any death sentences can be carried out. The Chinese government also arrested a former Canadian diplomat, Michael Kovrig, and a Canadian entrepreneur, Michael Spavor, on unspecified spying charges in an apparent attempt to pressure Ottawa to release Meng.