THEY WERE THE words of a despairing woman, hoping to save her husband from execution. But the plea, from the wife of gang boss 'Big Spender', struck at the heart a problem that still casts a shadow over Hong Kong's legal system.
'He never committed the crime on the mainland,' said Law Yim-fong. 'According to Hong Kong laws, he would face a maximum of 14 years' imprisonment even if he was convicted. There would not be a death penalty . . . It is unfair to hand down a death penalty on my husband.'
The plea for mercy fell on deaf ears. Cheung Tze-keung, 43, an SAR resident who committed cross-border crimes including kidnapping and gun-smuggling, was sentenced to death after a mainland trial. He was executed in December 1998 after his appeal failed.
Cheung had been arrested on the mainland, but some of his offences were committed in Hong Kong. Should he have been tried in the SAR instead? As his wife pointed out, under Hong Kong's radically different system Cheung would not have been executed and might even have been acquitted.
The controversy highlighted the lack of a formal rendition agreement between Hong Kong and the mainland setting out arrangements for the transfer of suspects. Rendition applies to the switching of suspects from one part of a country to another.
Cheung's case prompted urgent negotiations between officials on both sides in a bid to put such procedures in place. But more than two years on, no agreement has been reached and the negotiations are shrouded in secrecy. Indeed, there are signs of deadlock. A spokesman for the Security Bureau told the South China Morning Post talks have not taken place for almost a year.
