Fugitive billionaire from China tired after ongoing extradition battle
Assessment of Lai Changxing to determine what will happen if he's deported
Last Updated: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 | 4:32 PM PT
CBC News
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One of Canada's most infamous refugee claimants, Lai Changxing, won't be leaving the country anytime soon.
Lai Changxing has been fighting to avoid deportation to China where he faces smuggling and bribery charges.
(CBC)
Lai, a Chinese billionaire who is accused of being a smuggling kingpin, has been living in Vancouver for seven years and fighting extradition to China, where he's wanted on bribery and smuggling charges.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada has just begun a new assessment to determine what will happen to Lai if he's deported, a process that could take months, according to his lawyer.
Lai told a Vancouver news conference Tuesday he never expected the process to go on as long as it has and he's very tired.
He maintains he is just a fall guy in China's crackdown on corruption.
His lawyer, David Matas, said it could take a number of months for the federal department to do the assessment, and if a ruling goes against Lai he will appeal the decision in court.
Matas said Lai will be killed if he's sent back to China.
"He cannot get a fair trial in China or expect even to be fairly treated in China once he is in prison,'' Matas claimed.
"There's a lot of invective against corruption in China of the most vicious sort, suggesting that people should be killed.''
Lai's claim for refugee status has been rejected several times.
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