Chinese fugitive Lai Changxing (賴昌星), the alleged boss of a multibillion-dollar smuggling ring who faces possible deportation today, will be spared execution if he is returned to China, a Canadian government lawyer said on Wednesday.
Beijing sent a diplomatic note on May 26 to Canadian officials saying it would honor previous assurances given to Ottawa that Lai "would not face the death penalty ... or be tortured" if repatriated, Esta Resnick, a government lawyer, told a federal court.
Lai has been fighting to stay in Canada since fleeing China in 1999 with his wife and their three children after China cracked down on what the state claimed was a smuggling ring.
In June 2000, the five family members lodged refugee claims in a bid to stay in Canada.
Lai's lawyer David Matas appealed to Canada's Federal Court on Wednesday to quash a deportation order because he said Lai would face persecution and certain death if he was sent home.
Canadian law prevents the deportation of people to face trial in countries where they could be executed.
Chinese authorities allege the former ditch digger with merely a grade six education was the mastermind behind a smuggling ring that imported up to US$10 billion in luxury goods and bribed government officials.
It is alleged he once drove along Chinese streets in a bulletproof Mercedes-Benz, an image that is hard to reconcile with Lai's small stature and apparent down-to-earth persona.
In his rare public appearances -- Lai lives under strict conditions imposed by the authorities that restrict his movements and is barred from visiting casinos -- he remains apparently unable to speak in English.
The Federal Court's judgment, expected yesterday, would likely be the last word in a six-year legal saga involving several human rights lawyers who questioned China's human rights record and cast doubt on its diplomatic promises.
If the court rules against Lai, Resnick said he could be deported as soon as Friday.
Matas said that Lai may yet appeal to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to intervene, but it is uncertain if that agency could act quickly enough to block any deportation.
Canadian foreign affairs department spokeswoman Pamela Green-well said it was "premature" to say if Ottawa would respect a possible opinion from the UN body in the case.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has already indicated Lai's case is a criminal matter, not a political issue, and has refused to get involved.
In a number of hearings by immigration boards and courts, adjudicators and judges have ruled against Lai.
Resnick called him "a common criminal fugitive from justice" and warned that Canada could become a haven for fugitives if Lai won his bid to stay.
Matas alleged that Ottawa wanted to extradite Lai to thaw relations with Beijing, which had cooled over this case.
"We have concerns about relations with China superseding Mr. Lai's rights," he told the Federal Court.
China has repeatedly brought up Lai's presence in Canada even in economic and political discussions, but Resnick called the allegations: "grand hearsay, grand speculation."
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