Some details come out of the trial in Dalian. The court kept his first judgment offline, though it doesn’t fall under state secrets, and notetaking not allowed in the courtroom. So details based on memory wsj.com/articles/china…
Robert Schellenberg said he was a former oil industry worker, born May 26, 1982. He appeared in court in handcuffs, black sweatshirt, glasses, close-cropped hair, carrying a sheaf of papers. Not visibly frail after 4 yrs detention
Case revolves around 222kg of crystal meth found hidden among bags of plastic granules in a Dalian port warehouse late 2014. Plan was to smuggle it to Australia hidden inside tires.
Schellenberg’s Chinese acquaintance Xu Qing had blown the whistle to the cops. Xu wasn’t punished and didn’t appear in the first or second trial. Schellenberg alleged Xu stole the money from the deal then framed him. His lawyer argued the court should investigate if Xu is a 特勤
Schellenberg claimed text messages showed Xu planned to smuggle the drugs, then got cold feet due to the risk. Said Xu first took him to tourist spots in Dalian but on the seventh day of his visit took him to an industrial tools market, tire shop, outside the port warehouse
He said in the first trial a tire shop employee testified he sat playing on his phone at the tire store while Xu looked at tires. This was translated for judges into Xu sat playing on his phone, w his lawyer interjecting to correct
Mistranslations throughout. Some key lines of his testimony, such as when he said, this is how Xu framed me, went untranslated. At one point he said he didn’t know about any drugs, which was translated to he didn’t know where the drugs were
He seemed unclear on the trial process. When asked if he had further evidence and to argue his plea, he asked both times if it was time to give his closing statement. When told, not yet, he said he had nothing to add. Except that “obviously I’m innocent”
His defense lawyer did give a protracted defense, with the judge telling him several times he was taking too much time. He argued there was not proof Schellenberg was involved in smuggling, and he didn’t know key ppl in the ring
His lawyer asked the court lower the sentence to deportation, arguing tense China-Canada relations were an extenuating circumstance. This was a non-starter. Judge cut him off twice, told him to stick with the case. The translator told him his lawyer recommended he “export”
Procurators’ statements were much shorter. They presented no new evidence, but said they had unspecified “leads” of potential more serious involvement in an international smuggling ring that merited further investigation. His lawyer said he didn’t know they would say that
Schellenberg said he hid a Blackberry tablet in an airport bathroom trashcan on his way out of town because Xu paid for half of it and he forgot to give it to him. Said no one would look in a trashcan so he hid it there for Xu to retrieve
Several mentions that Schellenberg unresponsive to q’s in his first trial, which was a mark against him. His lawyer argued he grew up in the west, thought he had right to remain silent. He said first judge had asked him why Xu would frame him and he didn’t know then
Around 50 in the audience, mostly Chinese, one Canadian diplomat. Seemed preselected, as some people stopped at the door, even though courtroom ~1/3 empty. One man said he and a few others were from 政协, another said he was a lawyer.
After some 3 hrs, the lead judge said they would adjourn for 20 minute. When they came back, they said they took some of the opinion of both sides, and some things remained unclear. So the decision was retrial
the characters should be 特情
