The Rights Practice Briefing Paper since the prisoner spends the first two years under the threat of execution. This sentence is currently restricted to corruption cases. A suspended death sentence is subject to lower standards of review than a death sentence with immediate execution. Suspended death sentences are reviewed and approved by the Higher People’s Court, located at the provincial level. Although the appeal and review will likely involve different court personnel the two procedures take place at the same court administrative level and may be subject to the same local political pressures. The Rights Practice has seen cases which have been sent back for retrial on more than one occasion due to concerns with the adequacy of the evidence needed to convict. In some cases, rather than reach a not guilty verdict the sentence was reduced from immediate execution to suspended death sentence. In a 2016 Judicial Interpretation to Henan Higher People’s Court the SPC explained that the retrial of a death penalty case, where the SPC had not approved the death penalty, should not be sent back to the original first instance court. It is possible that this measure is intended to enable the case to be reheard away from local public pressure although there may also be concerns to improve efficiency.13 Many observers see the suspended death sentence as a unique and positive sentencing option in serious cases. It appears to satisfy advocates of the death penalty while also reducing the numbers of persons executed. Although the absence of official data makes it impossible to provide accurate figures researchers estimate that 95% of suspended death sentences are commuted after two years. This leaves 5% of an unknown number executed; perhaps several hundred. The 2018 CPL (Art. 261) states that where the death sentence should be enforced, following a suspended death sentence, the higher court must report the case to the SPC for final review. Politically motivated sentencing and executions A number of executions for drug crime are reported prominently by state media around International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26. Prisoners may have waited weeks or months for their execution to be used for anti-drug propaganda. In a disturbing and unusual development, Canadian citizen Robert Schellenberg was sentenced to death following his appeal against a 15-year sentence for drug smuggling. His case has been seen as retaliation for the arrest, in Canada, of Chinese Huawei senior executive Meng Wanzhou. Schellenberg’s appeal against the death sentence was rejected by a court in Shenyang and his case will now be reviewed by the SPC. This process is likely to take a long time; Chinese officials have linked this case to Meng’s extradition case.14 The two-year suspended death sentence has been used against prominent Uyghurs in what appear to be politically motivated prosecutions and harsh sentencing for alleged separatism. Chinese television reported in 2021 that Sattar Sawut, former Deputy Secretary of the Education and Work Committee in XUAR and Shirzat Bawudun, former head of the department of justice in the region were both given two-year suspended death sentences for separatism. These followed reports that Tashpolat Teyip, President of Xinjiang University had been given a similar sentence, since denied by the Chinese authorities. 13 Supreme People’s Court Monitor. “Supreme People’s Court Tweaks Capital Punishment Review Procedure” June 27, 2016. https://supremepeoplescourtmonitor.com/2016/06/27/supreme-peoples-court-tweaks-capital-punishment-reviewprocedure/ 14 Davidson, Helen. “China court upholds death sentence against Canadian Robert Schellenberg” August 10, 2021. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/10/china-death-sentence-canadian-robert-schellenbergmichael-spavor 5