Lawyers for Hong Kong resident Ramanjit ‘Romi’ Singh challenging extradition to India claim he risks being tortured if sent back to his homeland
- Indian government requested his return last year over alleged links to terrorism and a prison break
A Hong Kong resident challenging extradition to India for his alleged links to terrorism and a prison break has asked a court to consider the risk of torture and ill-treatment he faces if surrendered to his native country.
Lawyers for Ramanjit “Romi” Singh on Tuesday argued the Hong Kong Bill of Rights’ protection against deprivation of life and inhuman treatment are critical issues for the court in determining a foreign government’s extradition request.
“Evidence shows he was tortured in India,” Professor Simon Young Ngai-man, his counsel, said. “This court has jurisdiction to deal with threatened violation of the Bill of Rights: the remedy we are seeking is discharge, which this court is justified to order.”
But legal representatives for the Indian government countered that nothing in Hong Kong’s Fugitive Offenders Ordinance allows the court to hear such concerns, and said the city has a clear statutory and administrative scheme for such claimants to seek protection through the Immigration Department.
“In fact we would invite Mr Singh to put in a formal application to deal with it through proper procedures,” Wayne Walsh SC said on behalf of the Indian government.