Sinn Féin’s Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Seán Crowe TD, has described reports that a Chinese man has been sentenced to death, by lethal injection as disturbing.  A Chinese court found seven men guilty of the murder of Chen Li Ming in Dublin in 2002. The case remains officially unsolved in Ireland.

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“I am extremely concerned and disturbed that a Chinese man has been convicted and now faces the death penalty in China, for allegedly murdering a man in Dublin in 2002. Six other men have also reportedly been convicted for the murder which still remains officially unsolved in this jurisdiction.

“The details of the murder of Chinese national Chen Li Ming, in Dublin in 2002 sound horrific, and unfortunately, the crime still remains unsolved here.

“Reports in the media state that An Garda Síochána assisted the Chinese authorities’ investigating the case, after they received assurances that nobody would face the death penalty over the murder. These assurances would appear to have been ignored and broken.

“Ireland has quite rightly outlawed capital punishment and has worked internationally to try and ensure that capital punishment is banned throughout the world.

“From our own recent history, we know that many innocent people suffered miscarriages of justice, and would have been killed if capital punishment was in place in this, or neighbouring jurisdictions.

“I understand this incident has quite rightly caused a diplomatic incident and strained relations between Ireland and China.

“The Department of Foreign Affairs clearly needs to get to the bottom of how this happened, and crucially, how mutually agreed State assurances were supposedly trampled on and then ignored.

“This recent conviction, and the Chinese Government response, has potentially changed the growing close relationship between our two countries, particularly in recent years.

“The Department of Justice will also need to review and evaluate any further Garda or judicial co-operation with the Chinese authorities’ in future criminal cases following this incident.”

ENDS