Chinese Court Rejects Canadian’s Appeal of Death Sentence for Drug Trafficking

Robert Lloyd Schellenberg initially received 15 years in prison for methamphetamine trafficking. But he was handed a death sentence in a one-day retrial in 2019.

HONG KONG — A Chinese court on Tuesday upheld the death sentence of a Canadian man convicted of drug trafficking, one of several legal cases that have driven a diplomatic rift between Beijing and Ottawa. The Canadian, Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, was initially sentenced to 15 years in prison. But in 2019 he was handed a death sentence in a one-day retrial, one month after the Canadian authorities arrested Meng Wanzhou, an executive with a Chinese telecommunications equipment company. The court’s ruling on Mr. Schellenberg’s appeal came as Ms. Meng’s case in Canada was entering its final arguments. She is fighting an extradition request from the United States on fraud charges.