JAILED Government lawyer Warwick Reid will be given a new identity and moved to a secret new country amid fears for his safety when he leaves prison later this year.
The moves are being made by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and the New Zealand authorities as part of a long-standing agreement to safeguard Reid under a witness protection programme.
Reid was convicted in a $12 million corruption case in 1990, and subsequently gave evidence for the prosecution in several follow-up trials in return for a lighter sentence.
In what are believed to be his first public comments since his imprisonment, the New Zealand barrister, who is serving the final months of his jail term in Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre, Castle Peak, spoke to the Sunday Morning Post through his lawyer.
The lawyer, who has represented Reid for several years, spoke to his client yesterday in a special protection unit at the Government centre where he has been held since February 1993.
He said Reid wanted to clarify points about his future following a story in the South China Morning Post last week which said he had pleaded with his former employers to return to his old job in New Zealand.