15933/89
- 2 -
THE FACTS
The applicant was born in 1931 in Penang, Malaysia, but he claims to be the holder of a Liberian diplomatic passport. He is a businessman by profession. He is currently detained in the United Kingdom awaiting his extradition to Hong Kong. In the proceedings before the Commission the applicant is represented by Messrs. Johnson Walsh and Co., Solicitors, Birmingham.
This is the applicant's second application to the Commission. His first, No. 14037/88, in which he complained that his extradition to Hong Kong would be in breach of Articles 3 and 7 of the Convention, was rejected by the Commission on 13 March 1989.
The facts of the present case, as submitted by the parties,
may be summarised as follows.
A.
1.
The particular facts of the case
Extradition proceedings
On 30 November 1985 a warrant was issued by a Hong Kong Magistrate for the applicant's arrest on 16 charges of fraud. The applicant was arrested in London on 6 December 1985, pursuant to a provisional warrant issued by a London Magistrate on 2 December 1985 under section 6 (1) of the Fugitive Offenders Act 1967 (the 1967 Act). His house was searched and a large amount of documentation was seized by the police. Others accused of the same offences were also arrested in London and Hong Kong around that time. The applicant has been in custody continuously since that date. The Government of Hong Kong have sought his extradition from the United Kingdom to Hong Kong on multiple charges of fraud and these proceedings have given rise to the application to the Commission.
The applicant was remanded in custody until 16 December 1985 when the Magistrate fixed 27 January 1986 as the date by which the Secretary of State had to provide him with an authority to proceed with the extradition committal or the applicant would be discharged in accordance with section 7 (4) of the 1967 Act. Before that date arrived, a further Hong Kong warrant was issued on 20 January 1986 increasing the charges to 29. All charges were indicated in the new warrant. On 21 January 1986 the applicant's extradition was requested by the Governor of Hong Kong and on 24 January the Secretary of State in the United Kingdom issued to the Chief Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate an authority to proceed under section 5 of the 1967 Act in respect of the 29 offences. On 25 April 1986 a further warrant was issued against the applicant in Hong Kong, increasing the number of charges to 43. A second extradition request was made to the Secretary of State on 28 April, covering all of these charges, and on 13 May 1986 the Secretary of State issued to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate a further authority to proceed under section 5 of the 1967 Act in respect of the 43 offences. These offences concerned 11 offences of conspiracy to defraud contrary to common law, 11 offences of conspiracy to steal contrary to common law, seven offences of accepting an advantage as an agent, eight offences of theft and six offences of false accounting.