Chinese fugitive wins reprieve on deportation

三思

POSTED: 1:49 p.m. EDT, April 5, 2007

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) -- A Canadian judge gave Lai Changxing, one of China's most wanted fugitives, another chance on Thursday to fight deportation from Canada to face charges of running a smuggling empire.

The Canadian official who approved Lai's removal order after his bid for political asylum was rejected, failed to consider Lai's claim properly he would be tortured by Chinese authorities, the judge ruled.
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The slow pace of Lai's deportation case -- which has gone on for seven years -- has become a thorn in Chinese-Canadian relations even though Ottawa has supported Beijing's efforts to have him returned.
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/ E* w  f4 P  Q- U$ P! VThursday's ruling means that Lai, his former wife and children can have their removal orders reviewed by the court system, a process that likely will take at least several months to complete.
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China has sent diplomatic assurances to Canada that Lai will not be tortured or executed, but the judge said the official who ordered Lai removed failed to determine if the assurances were "meaningful and reliable."

3 E1 x+ z( Z. s3 aJudge Yves de Montigny rejected the official's opinion that Lai's notoriety would prevent Beijing from breaking its word.
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8 I. }0 F* i9 c0 S2 P+ O"If torture is practiced without anybody ever knowing it, notoriety will be of no avail to the Lais," de Montigny wrote.
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Canada, which does not have capital punishment, normally refuses to extradite people to countries where they could face the death penalty or torture.

  N) r3 P, @* D" a! x) @1 B2 x! mA senior Chinese official repeated the assurance at a news conference in Beijing last month that Lai would not be sentenced to death. Lai also was urged to give himself up.

' c: B  E' Y; W$ m0 \4 ZDe Montigny said he did not "doubt the good faith of the Chinese government" but that the removal order had failed to meet the standards of Canadian law and could be reviewed by the court system.
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/ {6 |5 X) G. h% r9 l' C7 |Lai is accused of running a multibillion-dollar operation that bribed officials and police to avoid taxes and duties on goods ranging from oil to cigarettes that were smuggled into China's Fujian province in the 1990s.
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) i9 g# J" q2 uHe fled to Canada in 1999 with his wife and children after learning that he was about to be arrested. He requested political asylum in 2000 after being secretly visited in Vancouver by Chinese police.
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5 A# a/ K- t7 y5 a0 g3 TLai has denied wrongdoing and has said the allegations are politically motivated.

Canadian immigration officials rejected his asylum bid, ruling the accusations against him were for alleged criminal activity and not political actions.
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Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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