Chinese prisoner 'may face death'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/7028443.stm

Version 0 of 1.

A Chinese man who stabbed a fellow countryman to death in Belfast two years ago faces execution if he is deported, the Appeal Court has heard.

Huan Wang, 36, has finished a sentence for manslaughter but remains in jail while fighting a judge's recommendation that he should be sent home.

A defence QC said Chinese authorities can still investigate crimes committed by its citizens in another country.

Wang was at risk of death, torture or degrading treatment, he said.

He fatally stabbed Jun Wang, 37, at the house where they both lived in south Belfast in March 2005.

Recommendation

The lawyer said the Home Office would be acting on Mr Justice Deeny's recommendation that Wang should be deported.

However, he said such a move would be in breach of Article Three of the European Convention on Human Rights - the right to freedom from torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The Lord Chief Justice Sir Brian Kerr, sitting with Lord Justice Campbell and Mr Justice Morgan, said Wang and his victim were living unlawfully in Northern Ireland when the fatal stabbing took place in March 2005.

He said the court had been asked not to act in a way which was incompatible with human rights legislation, but these had not yet been engaged as a final decision on deportation had yet to be made.

The application for leave to appeal against the recommendation to deport was dismissed.

Tribunal

Wang's case later came before the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal.

His solicitor told the tribunal it was inappropriate to deport him while his asylum and human rights claims had still to be determined by the Home Office.

Describing the Chinese regime's human rights record as appalling, Mr Brennan said they executed around 20,000 people every year.

He claimed that to make matters worse, the victims were culled for body parts.

Judgement was reserved.