Canada is reportedly seeking assurances from Malaysia that it will not execute a failed refugee claimant wanted in the Southeast Asian nation for murder.
The alleged killer is identified as Tee Meng Liew, and described in the Federal Court of Canada as one of Malaysia’s “most-wanted criminals.”
A Malaysian police record obtained by the Asian Pacific Post shows that Liew, who carries a Malaysian identity card bearing the number 691002-08-5681, also goes by the name of Ong Ku and was born on Oct 2, 1969.
He remains in a Toronto jail – where he has been imprisoned for 20 months – until the request is resolved.
According to Federal Court documents, Liew was disallowed entry into Canada in 1993. He, however, managed to slip in later that same year and remained in hiding until 2004, when he was arrested.
Liew then made a refugee claim on February 3, 2004. That claim was rejected after he was deemed not credible.
He was ordered to appear for a removal hearing in January 2007. When he did not make that hearing, a warrant of arrest was issued for him.
Liew was arrested again and detained the following month.
It was only at this time Liew disclosed that he was on Malaysia’s wanted list as he was charged with murder and faced the death penalty if convicted in his homeland.
Describing the case against his client as “bizarre in the extreme,” Liew’s lawyer Timothy Leahy said Liew did not initially disclose his Malaysian arrest warrant to Canadian authorities because he feared he would be summarily deported and hanged.
Leahy, a lawyer with international immigration law firm Forefront Migration, says Liew’s arrest warrant stems from a death that occurred in a drunken bar brawl in Malaysia when his client was 21.
“No one has ever been tried for the offence although three of (Liew’s) friends were jailed for three years before the charges were dismissed for lack of evidence,” said Leahy, in e-mail correspondence with the Asian Pacific Post from his firm’s offices in Doha, Qatar.
“They, of course, said that Meng did it because he was, to their mind at least, safe in Canada and, thus, beyond the reach of Malaysian law.”
Last month, as the Government of Canada reportedly sought assurance from Malaysia that Liew would not face the death penalty if returned and convicted, an Immigration judge decided to release him on a $13,000 bond.
A friend of Liew, identified as Wang, was to put up the money.
Despite Wang refusing to attend the bond hearing, the immigration judge decided to grant him temporary freedom.
That order was appealed by the Canada Border Services Agency, which claimed Liew was a flight risk.
Last week Mr. Justice Russel Zinn of the Federal Court agreed that the immigration judge’s decision was wrong and ordered Liew to remain in jail until the Malaysia-Canada request is solved.
Liew’s lawyer Leahy claims that there were “numerous improper findings of fact” in Justice Zinn’s order, and further alleges the Federal Court judge was “too quick to do the Crown’s bidding” in the case of Liew, whom Leahy suggests has been targeted for deportation due to a right-leaning current of “just deserts” conservatism currently running through Stephen Harper-led Ottawa.
For example, Leahy points to the Royal Malaysian Police website which lists Liew among all those for whom Malaysian arrest warrants are outstanding. He is wanted, Leahy allows, but “most wanted” is “yet another prejudicial erroneous finding.”
While Leahy may be splitting hairs on this point, he further contends that he has seen “absolutely no supporting evidence” that Canada is “actively” negotiating with the Government of Malaysia to have it agree that Liew will not be executed if convicted on the charges outstanding.
“As a result of (Justice Zinn’s) order, I filed what is probably a unique motion seeking orders never before sought,” said Leahy.
Among the lawyers demands:
An order obliging Ottawa to serve and file within 30 days “a summary of the alleged on-going efforts to secure from Malaysian authorities a promise not to execute Mr. Liew if he is deported to Malaysia and the estimated date such an agreement will be reached; or to cease asserting that such negotiations are on-going and likely to result in an agreement. . .”
An interim order releasing Liew from detention in 35 days unless Ottawa can provide “credible evidence that the Malaysian Government will agree within 60 days that (a) it will try Mr. Liew within six months of his return or will dismiss all charges against him and, (b) if he is convicted, will not execute him. . .”
The Federal court, meanwhile, said that Liew has previously, and many times, lied to immigration authorities, and stated that he would not comply with a removal order or deportation order.
Liew, the court said, has lived successfully underground in Canada for more than 10 years, and is facing a very serious criminal charge in Malaysia.
“Liew has failed to comply many times with the Act. His disappearance underground is a real risk and given his past success, if he does go underground again, it may well be a long time before he is detained. That risk is irreparable,” Judge Zinn noted.
Leahy, however, says his client has been a “model prisoner” and is being unjustly persecuted for being party to an incident that occurred 18 years ago.
“In my view the Malaysian Government will never agree to the request that it provide assurances to the Government of Canada that it will not execute Meng if convicted - or even that he will be tried in a timely manner,” he said, arguing Malaysia, a country in political flux, will assert its sovereignty over the crime, for which the only listed penalty is execution.
Capital punishment in Malaysia applies to murder, drug trafficking, treason, and acts of terrorism.
Death sentences are carried out by hanging. Between 1970 and 2001, Malaysia executed 359 people. As of 2006, 159 people remain on the death row.
While the extraordinary case of Tee Meng Liew is a deportation matter, Malaysia and Canada do not share an extradition treaty.
By Mata Press Service
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