POLICE leading the inquiry into triad control of the film industry could be forced to move a supergrass overseas before government guidelines for a standardised witness protection scheme are in place.
Security Branch officials are on Saturday expected to flesh-out Fight Crime Committee calls to send top-level informants facing extreme threats to another country with new identities.
Government plans could take two years to implement, but detectives are considering offering new lives overseas to top witnesses who can give ''high-calibre'' information in the drive against organised crime in the entertainment industry.
The branch proposal is a key point of a soon-to-be-completed policy on how to protect witnesses, but government sources warned firm diplomatic agreements still had to be established.
Hong Kong would send threatened witnesses to only two or three ''friendly'' countries, who in return could apply to send their own protected informants to the territory.
Legislation is being drafted and it could be up to two years before the necessary infrastructure to overturn the present ad hoc approach to witness protection becomes available.
