China revokes death sentence for Canadian citizen

China has revoked the death sentence for Canadian citizen Schellenberg, convicted of drug trafficking, following improved relations between the two countries.

Canadian officials announced on 6/2 that Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, who was sentenced to death in China in 2019 for drug trafficking, has had his death sentence revoked. Schellenberg's lawyer, Zhang Dongshuo, confirmed today that the Supreme People's Court of China released this decision. Schellenberg is detained in Dalian city, Liaoning province, northeastern China.

The Supreme People's Court of China's new decision comes as relations between the two countries have improved, following Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit to Beijing last month. The Liaoning High People's Court will retry Schellenberg, though a date for the retrial has not yet been set. His lawyer, Mr. Zhang, met with Schellenberg in Dalian on 6/2 and described his morale as stable.

Canada's Global Affairs Ministry stated, "We will continue to provide consular services to Schellenberg and his family. Canada has advocated for clemency in this case, as we do for all Canadian citizens sentenced to death." The agency did not comment on whether diplomatic activities during Mr. Carney's visit influenced the court's ruling, citing privacy concerns.

Schellenberg was arrested on drug-related charges in 2014. In 2018, the Dalian Intermediate People's Court initially sentenced him to 15 years in prison, a USD 23,000 fine, and deportation after serving his sentence.

The Canadian citizen appealed to the Liaoning High People's Court, which ordered the Dalian court to retry the case after prosecutors argued the initial sentence was too lenient. In 1/2019, the Dalian court sentenced Schellenberg, then 36, to death, stating that the 15-year sentence for drug trafficking was too light. The court stated Schellenberg played a key role in a drug smuggling operation to Australia. Schellenberg denied wrongdoing. This escalation occurred as relations between Ottawa and Beijing deteriorated in 2018 when Canadian authorities arrested Meng Wanzhou, daughter of Huawei's founder, at the request of the US. China retaliated by arresting two Canadian citizens on espionage charges.