Reference:
A
CONFIDENTIAL
HKD 384
RECFI
IN
334/1
14
Draft letter from the Prime Minister to
Dr Mahathir
47
10/5
Background
1.
Lorrain Osman a Malaysian citizen is the subject of an
extradition request made by the Government of Hong Kong
under the Fugitive offenders Act 1967, since replaced in
almost identical form by the Extradition Act 1989. His case
continues to attract public interest. He faces serious
charges in Hong Kong: conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to
steal, bribery, theft and fraudulent false accounting,
arising from dealings amounting to some US$800 million of a
deposit-taking company, which was a subsidiary of a major
Malaysian Bank. Osman was a director of both the Bank and its subsidiary.
2.
In June 1987, after a hearing lasting 66 working days,
Osman was committed to custody by the Chief Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate for surrender. The Home Secretary cannot surrender the fugitive while any appeal proceedings are pending.
3. Osman has made four such applications and subsequent
appeals to the House of Lords. All have failed. A fifth
application is outstanding. Osman brought court proceedings in Hong Kong and Malaysia to try to stop his extradition
from the UK. Osman made three applications for bail. The
first was refused in June 1986, the second in July 1989 and
the third in October 1989. He made two applications to the European Commission of Human Rights. The first was rejected
in March 1989. The second was deemed inadmissable in March
1991.
The reason that this case remains unresolved is because of Osman's continuing litigation over many years here, in Malaysia and Hong Kong. He is a law graduate.
4.
MTHAUF/2
CONFIDENTIAL