Chinese court upholds death sentence of U.S. citizen convicted of murder

A Chinese court on Thursday rejected the appeal of Shadeed Abdulmateen, an American national, who was sentenced to death in April this year for intentional homicide.

The Higher People's Court of east China's Zhejiang Province announced the verdict after holding the second instance trial of Abdulmateen's case in July and will submit it to the Supreme People's Court for approval, the court said in a statement.

The Intermediate People's Court of Ningbo City in Zhejiang convicted Abdulmateen of murdering a 21-year-old woman surnamed Chen.

The Ningbo court found that, on June 14, 2021, Abdulmateen asked the female victim, who was in a relationship with him but wanted a breakup, to meet him near a bus stop and subsequently stabbed her with a folding knife in the neck and face. The victim suffered massive bleeding and died at the scene.

After receiving the death sentence, Abdulmateen filed an appeal.

The appeal was rejected because the Ningbo court had clearly established criminal facts with adequate and valid evidence. The conviction was accurate, the sentence was appropriate, while the trial followed due procedure, the Higher People's Court of Zhejiang said in its statement.

During the appeal trial, the court fully guaranteed the litigation rights of the defendant and the victim's relatives.

Two lawyers appointed to defend Abdulmateen heard the judgement, along with an interpreter hired for him, and an agent ad litem engaged by the victim's relatives.

More than 20 people observed the proceedings, including officials from the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai, lawmakers, political advisors, and members of the public.