On November 20, 2018, the Dalian Intermediate People's Court sentenced Schellenberg to 15 years in prison for drug smuggling, confiscation of 150,000 yuan in personal property, as well as deportation.
On January 14, 2019, the Dalian Intermediate People's Court opened a retrial to review the case, sentencing Schellenberg to death and confiscation of all property.
[1][3] Schellenberg's defense lawyer Zhang Dongshuo and others argued that the Dalian Intermediate People's Court's decision violated the rule of "no additional sentence on appeal".
Prior to the retrial, on December 1, 2018, at the request of the United States, Canada arrested the vice chairman of Huawei, Meng Wanzhou, causing friction in Canada–China relations.
[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.
On November 19, Schellenberg arrived in Dalian under the designation of Kem, trying to hide the drug in a tire liner and smuggle it to Australia.
Later, at the request of Schellenberg, Xu Qing brought him to buy related tools, including tires, liners, and used containers.
In the afternoon of November 27, Schellenberg contacted Mai Qingxiang by phone and asked him to find another warehouse to store drugs.
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.
[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.
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.
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] Chapter VI, Section VII of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, as amended in 1997, stipulates that smuggling, trafficking, transportation, manufacturing over 50 grams of methamphetamine may carry a sentence of fifteen years in prison, life imprisonment or execution, and confiscation of property.
The then UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown had personally pleaded with Chinese President Hu Jintao not to execute Shaikh.
[1]Article 236 If the retrial court disagrees with the judgment of the first instance, after hearing, the cases shall be handled separately according to the following circumstances:
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 deportation.
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.
[12][18] Before the second trial of the Schellenberg case, China-Canada relations deteriorated rapidly due to Canada's arrest of Huawei's vice chairman and CFO Meng Wanzhou.
[19] According to information at a bail hearing on December 7, the United States had accused Meng of fraud and violations of U.S. sanctions on Iran.
[28][29] In court, prosecutors added accusations that Schellenberg had participated in and played a major role in international drug trafficking organizations.
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.
[1] 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 prosecution of Schellenberg for participating in international drug trafficking activities and playing a major role in criminal organizations.
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.
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.
[4] Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland claims to have asked the Chinese government to spare Schellenberg's life.