Schellenberg smuggling incident

Robert Lloyd Schellenberg (born 1982) is a Canadian citizen[6] and grew up in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Schellenberg had been jailed twice in Canada for drug possession, and had been arrested a total of 11 times for drug offences and driving under influence before being arrested in China. According to 2012 court documents, Schellenberg had previously suffered from a femoral injury at work, and began to use pain medications to relieve pain and became addicted. In 2010, Schellenberg was sentenced to "one year in prison and two years' probation" for trafficking and transporting drugs. In 2012, Schellenberg was sentenced to two years in prison for drug-related offenses including for trafficking purposes.[7][8] His father stopped supporting him since he was in prison, but some other relatives still supported him. When Schellenberg was released from prison in 2013, his whereabouts were unknown.[9] According to his aunt, Schellenberg "used earnings from working in Alberta’s oil fields to pay for his travels in Asia".[10]

At the time of the retrial, the Dalian Intermediate People's Court determined that "Kem", "Steven", "Mr. Zhou" and others were controlling an international drug trafficking organization. They had two accounts with Ping An Bank of China and China Merchants Bank to provide funds for drug trafficking. In mid-October 2014, Kem hired a translator Xu Qing, who did not know of the drugs, to rent a warehouse in Dalian to purchase tires, and hid 20 tons of plastic pellets (including 222 packets of methamphetamine that Mr. Zhou and Jian Xiangrong took from Guangzhou) into the warehouse. Kem also informed Xu Qing that he would send a foreigner to help handle the goods. On November 11, 2014, Xu Qing received the goods in Dalian. On November 19, Schellenberg arrived in Dalian under the designation of Kem, trying to hide the drug in a tire liner and smuggling it to Australia. Later, at the request of Schellenberg, Xu Qing brought him to buy related tools, including tires, liners, and used containers. After checking the cargo and estimating the workload, Schellenberg postponed the shipping time from November to December. In the afternoon of November 27, Schellenberg contacted Mai Qingxiang by phone and asked him to find another warehouse to store drugs. Mai telephoned a warehouse shop in Dalian to find a warehouse. On November 29, Xu Qing suspected that the case was a drug crime and reported it to the police. Upon finding out that the police were informed, Schellenberg planned to escape to Thailand from the hotel via Dalian Airport in the early morning of December 1, 2014. On the way, he discarded his old phone card and replaced it with a new one. When the plane had a stopover at Guangzhou Baiyun Airport at 1 pm on the same day, the police arrested Schellenberg. After inspection by the police, the net weight of 222 packets of methamphetamine carried by him was 222.035 kilograms (489.50 lb).[11][12] In December 2014, Schellenberg was detained. In January 2015, the prosecution approved his arrest and he was taken to the Dalian Detention Center.[6]

According to the Dalian Intermediate People's Court, from mid-November to early December 2014, Mr. Zhou twice sent Jian to hire a car to transport the goods with drugs from Guangzhou to Hangzhou. Jian, "Stephen" and Mai participated in the transportation. On December 5, Mai was arrested by the police. The public security department seized 501 kilograms of methamphetamine. During the period, Kem and others used the two controlled accounts to provide funds for Jian and Mai. By the time of the retrial, Kem, Stephen and Mr. Zhou had not been captured by the Chinese police, and Jian and Mai had been dealt with in another case. Jian was sentenced to life imprisonment for drug trafficking and illegal possession of drugs, and Mai was sentenced to death with 2-year reprieve for drug trafficking.[11]

Schellenberg pleaded not guilty and described himself as an innocent tourist framed by Xu. Schellenberg said he hadn't been to a "warehouse with methamphetamine", but only traveled near the warehouse; Xu took him to a tool store and a tire store, but he didn't buy tools and tires. Schellenberg's defense lawyer, Zhang, believed in the first instance that the evidence in this case was insufficient and that the facts were unclear, and the trial did not rule out a number of major reasonable doubts.[12]

On March 15, 2016, the Dalian Intermediate People's Court opened a trial for the Schellenberg drug smuggling case. The Canadian Embassy in China attended the hearing. On November 20, 2018, the Intermediate People's Court of Dalian sentenced Schellenberg to 15 years in prison, confiscation of RMB150,000 of personal property, and deported him. Schellenberg's defense lawyers claimed his innocence. Schellenberg himself appealed against the verdict.[5][16]

On December 26, 2018, the Liaoning Provincial Higher People's Court announced that appeal is scheduled to open for trial at 2 pm on December 29, 2018, and it did without delay. There were about 50 auditors, including officials and media.[17] Schellenberg's defense lawyer, Zhang, defended his innocence.[6] Zhang pointed out in court that the first trial did not rule out a number of important doubts, and the facts were unclear and the evidence was insufficient; even if the court convicts Schellenberg, taking into account that he failed to commit smuggling, combined with other factors, he should be sentenced to deportation instead of imprisonment. Zhang also considered the possibility of witness Xu Qing being a special police officer, and asked key witness Xu Qing to appear in court. Schellenberg argued that Xu had taken him to tool stores and tire stores, but he had not bought tires and tools; he had never entered a warehouse with drugs, and Xu Qing had only taken him to sightseeing nearby. Schellenberg said three times in court, "It's ridiculous". Prosecutors said that according to the clues they had, the case was likely to be an organized international drug trafficking activity, in which Schellenberg played an important role. The first trial that sentenced Schellenberg to 15 years in prison should be reviewed by that court. The trial lasted about two and a half hours. The Liaoning Provincial High Court issued a judgment, stating that the facts of the first trial were unclear, and the decision was returned to the initial court.[12][18]

On January 10, 2019, the Dalian Intermediate People's Court announced that it will open a trial at 8 am on January 14 to hear the case of Schellenberg smuggling drugs.[27] More than 50 people attended the trial on the 14th, including four Canadian embassy staff, the public, and Chinese and foreign journalists. Schellenberg reportedly asked the court to stop Canadian media from hearing the trial, according to Chinese media sources.[28][29] In court, prosecutors added accusations that Schellenberg had participated in and played a major role in international drug trafficking organizations. Xu Qing, who never appeared in the first and second trials, testified in court for more than an hour. The court adjourned for an hour at noon and resumed its hearing at 1:30 pm. The total length of the trial is about 13 hours. On the same day, the court found Schellenberg guilty and sentenced him to death and confiscation of all personal property for drug trafficking, agreeing with the judgement of the second trial.[2][30] Zhang said Schellenberg would appeal the sentence.[5] The appeal was denied on August 10, 2021, although the Supreme People's Court has not yet decided whether the execution may take place.[1]

The Schellenberg case has caused controversy in law and diplomacy. Schellenberg's defense lawyer Zhang Dongshuo and others believed that the prosecutor's supplementary prosecution was still within the scope of the old criminal facts, so the public prosecutor did not supplement new criminal facts, and the court violated the "no additional sentence for appeal" rule.[5] However, some Chinese state media and jurists believed that the judgment of the court did not violate the rule as new criminal facts were provided.[2] Pei Zhaobin, Dean of the School of Law at Dalian Ocean University, wrote that he had attended the trial and sentencing of the case. During the retrial, the public prosecutor added to prosecute Schellenberg for participating in international drug trafficking activities and playing a major role in criminal organizations. During the trial, the prosecution also produced the corresponding evidence. In addition, the prosecutor mentioned in the second trial that the evidence being pursued at the time showed that Schellenberg may have participated in international criminal organizations and played a major role. The Liaoning Provincial High Court also adopted the prosecutor's opinion.[18]

In addition, some people questioned the case's evidence and legal procedures. Someone "familiar with the case" disclosed to the BBC that the evidence in this case was dubious. It was said that the initial trial court asked for assistance from higher courts, and eventually the Supreme People's Court instructed it to give a 15-year sentence, which according to the insider violated legal requirements; the insider said that the second trial usually did not require a face-to-face trial but was generally conducted in writing. However, in the event of Meng Wanzhou, the court suddenly decided to switch to a face-to-face trial. The Ministry of Justice, Beijing Municipal Justice Bureau, and Xicheng District Justice Bureau also placed pressure on lawyers. Zhang and others believed that after the second instance court sent back the retrial, the case of the first instance court's retrial filing, trial, and judgment was very rapid and rare. However, Zhang believes that the retrial procedure is in compliance with the law.[5]

Some have linked the Schellenberg case to the Meng Wanzhou incident. U.S.-based China watcher Bill Bishop described the Sino-Canadian relationship as having escalated to "criminal diplomacy" from "hostage diplomacy" after the case. Donald Clarke, a professor of Chinese law at George Washington Law School, points out that the case is unusual and it is difficult to believe that the case has nothing to do with Meng. Clarke said that Schellenberg had been arrested in December 2014, but the first trial was in March 2016 and the sentencing in November 2018, which took a relatively long time, but the time taken for retrial was very fast (16 days). Also, retrial of criminal cases is very rare. According to statistics from Clarke, only 2% of Chinese criminal cases were retrialed in 2017; in addition, Chinese courts rarely voluntarily invite foreign media to attend trials. Stephen McDonell, a BBC correspondent in Beijing, pointed out that China's death sentence needs review by the Supreme People's Court, and the Chinese government may use Schellenberg as a bargaining chip and ask Canada to release Meng.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has publicly expressed serious concerns that China's death sentence is arbitrary. On the same day that the Schellenberg case was re-examined, Trudeau announced a slight reshuffle of the cabinet, with David Lametti as Attorney General and former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould as Minister of Veterans Affairs. Radio Canada International said Lametti will be involved in deciding whether to extradite Meng to the United States.[5] Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland claims to have asked the Chinese government to spare Schellenberg's life.[31] The Canadian government issued a travel warning saying that going to China may face the risk of arbitrary enforcement of laws in the country, requiring citizens traveling to China to be highly vigilant.[5] In response, China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying condemned the Canadian government's move and said they should instead remind their citizens to follow the law while in China.[32] The foreign ministry also issued a similar travel warning to what the Canadians had issued, alleging that Canada had recently "arbitrarily" detained a Chinese national—an apparent reference to Meng Wanzhou's detention several weeks prior.[33]