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Following a trial held in "open session" the High People's Court
of Eastern China's Zhejiang Province rejected the appeal of the
defendant, U.S. citizen Shadeed Abdulmateen, and upheld the
original verdict of a court in Ningbo this April, CCTV reported.
The initial ruling by the lower court held that after a
disagreement over the pair's break-up in June 2019 the defendant
arranged to meet and talk with the victim, a woman surnamed
Chen, at a bus stop in Ningbo before killing her.
"The High People's Court of Zhejiang Province..found that the
facts found by the Ningbo Intermediate People's Court were
clear, the evidence was true and sufficient, the conviction was
accurate, the sentence was appropriate and the trial procedure
was lawful, so it made the above ruling," CCTV reported.
The court has forwarded the case to the Supreme People's Court
for approval, a necessary final step in such cases before the
sentence is carried out.
It is extremely rare for the country's highest court to question
such verdicts and ask lower courts to revisit such cases, even
though this can be done.
Amnesty International said in a report earlier this year that it
believes China carries out thousands of executions each year but
the exact number is a state secret.
The defendant had legal representation appointed by the court
and officials from the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai were
in court to witness Thursday's verdict, CCTV said.
When asked for comment a U.S. Embassy spokesperson told Reuters
that they were "aware of a court decision related to a U.S.
citizen."
"We take seriously our responsibility to assist U.S. citizens
abroad and are monitoring the situation," the spokesperson said
via email. "Due to privacy considerations, we have no further
comment."
(Reporting by Martin Quin Pollard; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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