New Zealand's top court rules a man can be extradited to China to face a murder charge — a landmark judgement bucking a trend set by most democratic nations.
New Zealand's top court has ruled a male prisoner can be extradited to China to face a murder charge — a landmark judgement which goes against the trend set by most democratic nations.The court said China gave sufficient assurance the man would get a fair trial and not be torturedIn a 3-2 decision, the Supreme Court found China was able to give New Zealand officials sufficient assurance that the accused, South Korean citizen Kyung Yup Kim, could get a fair trial and would not be tortured.
Concerns over those issues have been enough to stop most democratic countries from extraditing suspects to China in recent times. Like many other nations, including Australia, New Zealand does not have a formal extradition treaty with China.Mr Kim's lawyers said they would try to stop his extradition, first by filing a complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee and then, if needed, by filing a fresh judicial review based on Mr Kim's poor health.He said his client was in a suicidal state due to his health issues, which included severe depression, a small brain tumour, and liver and kidney disease.