Akmal Shaikh, a 53-year-old father of three, is due to be executed today. The two cousins who visited him Monday said he had not been aware of the death penalty he is facing. He would be the first citizen of a European country to be executed in China in half a century.China has said his case was handled according to law, and has already rejected a plea from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for Shaikh to be spared. “We beg the Chinese authorities for mercy and clemency to help reunite this heartbroken family,” his cousin, Soohail Shaikh, said in a statement read to reporters in the far western city of Urumqi, where his cousin is being held.
Such eleventh-hour appeals are almost never granted in China, which executes more people each year than all other countries combined. Soohail Shaikh said he and his brother Nasir Shaikh visited Akmal Shaikh on Monday morning -- his first direct family contact in two years.
Soohail Shaikh said his cousin had not previously been told of his impending execution. “He was obviously very upset on hearing from us of the sentence that was passed,” Soohail Shaikh said. “We strongly feel that he’s not rational and he needs medication.”
