The government yesterday said it disagreed with a ruling denying a request to extradite convicted fugitive Zain Dean to Taiwan, vowing to continue its efforts to have the Briton face trial in a fatal hit-and-run case.
Scotland’s High Court of Justiciary on Friday said it concurred with Dean’s lawyers that jails in Taiwan are overcrowded, unsafe and do not conform to basic EU standards in its decision to reject Taipei’s extradition request.
The Ministry of Justice yesterday said in a statement that it and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had contacted Scottish prosecutors to organize an appeal to the Supreme Court of the UK.
Taiwan’s Representative to the UK David Lin (林永樂) was quoted by the Central News Agency as saying that he regretted the Scottish ruling and that the government would continue to work to have Dean extradited.
The Scottish court granted Dean parole on condition that he hand over his passport and reports to police every week, but said that Dean could not be released, because he is involved in another case.
Dean was convicted by the Taiwan High Court and handed a four-year prison term in July 2012 after being found guilty of hitting and killing newspaper deliveryman Huang Chun-teh (黃俊德).
According to police, Dean was driving under the influence of alcohol and hit Huang’s motorcycle from behind on a night in March 2010, with Huang thrown more than 100m from the point of impact.
Dean was to begin serving his sentence in 2012, but he fled the country in August that year using a friend’s passport at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
Huang was an only son and his death left the family facing hardship, because Huang was the sole wage earner, working two jobs.
Huang’s father, Huang Kuo-an (黃國安), said the case has gone on too long.
“How many years has it been?” he said. “I do not see any progress being made and I no longer have hope of seeing justice served.”
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