Taiwan would be willing to sign a mutual legal assistance agreement with Hong Kong so that a Hong Kong man suspected of killing his girlfriend in Taiwan could be prosecuted for the crime rather than go free, two Taiwanese judicial officials said.
As the alleged crime was committed in Taiwan, Hong Kong does not have jurisdiction over the case unless it can prove the man planned the crime in Hong Kong.
That means the suspect, who has returned to Hong Kong after allegedly killing his girlfriend in Taiwan last month, would not stand trial unless he is extradited to Taiwan.
The chances of extradition are minimal, said two Taiwanese judicial officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Taiwan and Hong Kong do not have an extradition treaty.
Even when China has asked Hong Kong for help, the territory did not turn over suspects, the officials said, adding that they do not foresee Hong Kong acting differently in this case.
However, they believe that Hong Kong could still prosecute the suspect, 19-year-old Chan Tung-kai (陳同佳), if the territory sought mutual legal assistance through official channels and asked Taiwan to provide all of the evidence, a request that Taiwan would cooperate with, they said.
Taiwan is also hoping that Hong Kong police will share the man’s testimony, they said.
Working through official channels would be crucial, because if evidence was exchanged privately, it could be inadmissible on court, the officials said.
Chan came to Taiwan on Feb. 8 with his 20-year-old girlfriend Poon Hiu-wing (潘曉穎) on a vacation, and stayed at the Purple Garden Hotel in Taipei’s Datong District (大同), Datong police said.
After Chan returned to Hong Kong alone on Feb. 17, Poon’s father contacted Taiwanese authorities, and an investigation, which included examining surveillance camera footage, led police to suspect that Chan had strangled Poon during a heated argument, Taipei police said.
Chan allegedly stuffed her body into a suitcase before taking it on a Taipei MRT train to Zhuwei (竹圍) MRT station on the same day.
He then dumped the body in a field and disposed of the suitcase elsewhere, Taipei police said.
Poon’s body was found on March 13.
Prosecutors are still investigating Poon’s death, Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office spokesperson Wu Yi-ming (吳怡明) said.
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