Lawyers for Hong Kong fugitive in Spanish jail says he could soon be freed
Lawyer for the former Grant Thornton partner says the city has no power to order extradition
A former top Hong Kong accountant who has spent the past two years battling extradition to the city from Spain could be freed from prison "within two or three months'', according to one of his lawyers.
Gabriel Ricardo Dias-Azedo, 66, a former Grant Thornton partner who fled Hong Kong in 2009 after allegedly fleecing clients of HK$94 million, has been held in a Spanish jail since 2010.
He is waiting for the country's highest court to rule on a claim by his legal team that he cannot be sent back to the city to face fraud charges because only Beijing has the power to issue extradition orders and his safety cannot be guaranteed on the mainland.
One of Azedo's lawyers, Rodrigo Martin, told the Sunday Morning Post that Spain's Constitutional Court "has no other choice but to rule in their favour because there is no possible extradition to an 'almost state' like Hong Kong".
He said that Azedo could be out of jail within "two or three months''.
Hong Kong officials reject this claim and say he can be returned under the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which has been signed by both jurisdictions.