A U.S. citizen faces death in China following the denial of his murder conviction appeal.

Shadeed Abdulmateen was found guilty of murdering his ex-girlfriend, and he was sentenced to death in April.

CCTV reported, citing Reuters, that Abdulmateen’s appeal was denied by the High People’s Court of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China following a trial.

“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.

Shadeed Abdul Mateen, an African-American who taught at Ningbo University of Technology in E.China’s Zhejiang, was sentenced to death for intentional homicide. He murdered a 21-year-old woman by cutting and stabbing her face and neck in 2021. https://t.co/XZA4BteLAe

— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) April 21, 2022

The ruling will be reviewed by the Supreme People’s Court, which is basically a formality.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy stated that officials were “aware of a court decision related to a U.S. citizen.”

The official stated, “We take seriously our responsibility to assist U.S. citizens abroad and are monitoring the situation.”

“Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment.”

The South China Morning Post reports that Abdulmateen taught English at the Ningbo University of Technology.

CCTV said that Abdulmateen informed the woman, whose name was only supplied as Chen, that he was divorced when he was not.

The two met in 2019 and began dating shortly thereafter.

More on this story via The Western Journal:

China’s state-run Global Times said that events spiraled after Chen wanted to end the affair.

“Starting in May 2021, Chen said several times that she wanted a break-up, but she was always refused and verbally threatened by the man,” the Global Times reported.

According to the court, Abdulmateen met Chen at a bus stop in Ningbo, Zhejiang province in June 2021. CONTINUE READING…