One of the US' most wanted suspects, who is accused of raping his daughter and posting the film on the Internet, agreed yesterday to be extradited from Hong Kong, a court here heard.
Kenneth Freeman, a bodybuilder, faces multiple charges of rape in relation to the video, which was one of the most downloaded items of child pornography on the Internet, the US Marshals Service in Washington said.
"After due consideration, it has been decided that Mr Freeman will consent to surrender and be sent to the United States," his lawyer, Giles Surman, told a Hong Kong court.
When asked by the magistrate Wahab Abu Bakar whether he made the decision of his own free will, the former policeman said: "I believe it's to my best interests."
"I understand fully and I voluntarily accept surrender," said Freeman, who was dressed in white dress shirt with his arms handcuffed in front.
But Surman stressed Freeman's consent does not mean he has accepted the charges.
"The extradition has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on his innocence," he told reporters outside the courthouse.
"He maintained his innocence to all of the charges ... we didn't want a lot of the material that might be presented in the United States rehearsed here when we don't have the benefit of questioning live witnesses," Surman said.
Although Surman had previously said Freeman planned to challenge the extradition request made by the US, he the U-turn decision yesterday was partly made due to the intense scrutiny of the case here in the territory.
Surman earlier asked the judge to impose restrictions on the press reporting on the content of the hearing, fearing it could influence a jury's decision when Freeman returns to the US to face trial.
The application was made after a Chinese-language newspaper in Hong Kong reported last week that Freeman made a complaint to the correction services department about a fellow prisoner.
"That complaint ... has made its way to the newspaper. This gives an indication that we could not be sure that the matters that have been disclosed would not then appear in the newspaper," Surman said.
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