Akmal Shaikh (5 April 1956 – 29 December 2009) was a British citizen, originally from Pakistan, who was executed in Urumqi, China, by lethal injection. Shaikh was the first EU national to be executed in China in 50 years.[1] The father of five took heroin from a friend named "Okole" unknowingly to China in a suitcase on a plane. China defended its decision to put Shaikh to death and stated it had acted according to Chinese law.[2][3]