Quote:
Originally Posted by papa smurf
from what i have read that seems to be the case.
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The case
history, as reported by Jonathan Watts, clearly states that concerns about Mr Shaikhs mental aptitude had been ignored prior to, during and after his first 30 minute "trial".
Obviously in order for these concerns to have been ignored they would first have to be raised - ergo one can safely assume that the mental health issues were not a "last minute / last ditch" attempt on the part of his family, campaigners, the Foreign Office and Gordon Brown amongst others.
The text of Mr Watts's reportage is as follows;
"Why didn't the judges accept requests by the defence that Shaikh be evaluated to assess claims that he had bipolar disorder and delusional psychosis?
This is the question that will hang over this case and do the most damage to relations between China and the UK. Under Chinese law, punishments can be reduced or voided if criminals are unable to recognise or control their misconduct. Yet this was ignored during Shaikh's initial 30-minute trial. At a second trial, judges were said to have laughed at the erratic 50-minute speech given by Shaikh, but they refused requests by UK consulate-appointed lawyers for a mental examination. By contrast, an American man who killed his Chinese wife a few years ago was given a reduced sentence because the lower court accept that he was a paranoid-schizophrenic. By the time this became an issue in Shaikh's case, it may have been too high-profile for the authorities to do anything without looking like they were backing down."