Canada court rules against China's most wanted man (Reuters)

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) ? A Canadian court cleared the way on Thursday for the extradition of China's most wanted man, dismissing concerns that he could be tortured or executed back home.

Federal Court Judge Michel Shore refused a request to stay the deportation of Lai Changxing, accused by Beijing of running a multibillion-dollar smuggling operation in China in the 1990s.

"Due to the Chinese government's assurances and the reasons for acceptance of those assurances (by the Canadian government), Mr. Lai has failed to satisfy any of the criteria . . . required for an order to stay the execution of a valid deportation order," Shore wrote in his reasons, alluding to a diplomatic note from China promising that Lai would not be tortured or executed.

In the note to Canada, China also said Canadian officials would have access to Lai.

"Mr. Lai is a common criminal fugitive from the Chinese justice system who has had full access to Canada's immigration process over the past 11 years and has been found not to be at risk if removed to China on the basis of extraordinary assurances received and held as valid (by the Canadian government)."

The written ruling added that "the balance of convenience does not favor delaying his removal, but favors removing him at this time."

Lai fled to Canada with his family in 1999 and claimed refugee status, saying the allegations against him were politically motivated. Canada rejected his refugee claim, and years of legal wrangling ensued.

Canadian government lawyer Helen Park said on Thursday he could be sent back as early as Saturday.

China says Lai bribed Chinese officials to avoid paying taxes and duties on everything from fuel to cigarettes that were shipped into China's southeastern Fujian province.

Lai admitted in a 2009 interview with the Globe and Mail newspaper that he had avoided taxes by taking advantage of loopholes in the law, but he denied bribery charges. He said if he were not in Canada he would have been executed by now.

Lai's lawyer, David Matas, said Lai's brother and his accountant both died in prison of unexplained causes and argued to Shore on Thursday that the same fate could await Lai.

Shore had reserved judgment after several hours of arguments on whether it would be safe to extradite Lai. The hearing was held in Ottawa and relayed by teleconference to British Columbia, where Lai is being held in detention.

Matas told Reuters in an email that if Shore ruled against his client, there were no further legal avenues to be pursued.

POLITICALLY SENSITIVE

Shore called China's assurances "extraordinary," but Matas replied that they were not adequate and didn't amount to anything.

"He too could die in prison without an autopsy and without any explanation. The assurances do not provide for an autopsy, or even a viewing of the corpse," Matas said in a written submission.

Matas said China only assured that Canadian officials might attend open hearings in court, and he quoted the U.S. State Department as saying that Chinese courts use state-secret provisions to keep politically sensitive proceedings closed to the public, counsel and foreign observers.

Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board ruled on Wednesday that Lai could be released pending Thursday's hearing. The federal government quickly won a stay of that decision from another Federal Court judge, James O'Reilly, and kept Lai in custody.

The main Federal Court case is Lai Cheong Sing v Minister of Citizenship & Immigration, IMM-4373-11.

(Additional reporting by Randall Palmer in Ottawa; Editing by Paul Simao)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110722/wl_nm/us_lai

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