China upholds death sentence for US citizen over murder

The court said the initial conviction was “accurate, the sentencing was appropriate, and the trial procedure was legal.” (File/AFP)

• Court rejected appeal of US citizen Shadeed Abdulmateen and upheld the original verdict
• Shadeed Abdulmateen had been found guilty of stabbing 21-year-old woman in the face and neck multiple times after disagreements in their relationship

BEIJING: A Chinese court on Thursday upheld the death penalty for a US citizen over the murder of his girlfriend, calling the conviction “accurate” and sentence “appropriate.”
Shadeed Abdulmateen had been found guilty in April of stabbing the 21-year-old woman in the face and neck multiple times when they met to talk about disagreements in their relationship.
He appealed against the death sentence handed to him at the time.
But a higher court in eastern China on Thursday rebuffed Abdulmateen’s appeal, according to an official statement.
The Zhejiang High People’s Court said Abdulmateen had threatened the woman after she told him multiple times that she wanted to break up.
On the night of the murder in June 2021 they met near a bus stop in Ningbo, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) south of Shanghai.
Abdulmateen turned up with a folding knife and “stabbed Chen’s neck and face multiple times, causing Chen to lose a large volume of blood and die on the spot.”
The court on Thursday said the initial conviction was “accurate, the sentencing was appropriate, and the trial procedure was legal.”
When asked for comment a US Embassy spokesperson told Reuters that they were “aware of a court decision related to a US citizen.”
“We take seriously our responsibility to assist US citizens abroad and are monitoring the situation,” the spokesperson said via email. “Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment.”
Human rights groups say China executes more prisoners every year than any other country, but executions of Westerners are rare.
The most recent case involving a Westerner is believed to be that of Akmal Shaikh, a British citizen put to death in 2009 for heroin trafficking, according to state news agency Xinhua.