‘Bureaucratic Nightmare’ Allows Killer to Remain Free
It has been six years since Amanda Zhao’s body was found stuffed in a suitcase and dumped in a remote area of British Columbia.
Li Ang, Zhao’s boyfriend and the prime suspect in the case, fled to China three days later, just before the RCMP were about to charge him with the murder.
Li has managed to elude justice ever since due to a judicial impasse, and this is where B.C. MLA Jenny Kwan comes in. In an effort to speed up the judicial process, Kwan is bringing Amanda’s parents to Vancouver.
“They want to come to Canada and talk to the ministers directly to get some closure for their tragic loss.” she says.
Zhao’s parents, who live in a poor area of Beijing, have been broken-hearted since their daughter’s death and have since been trying to find justice.
Kwan and MLA Mike Farnworth have sponsored a visa application for Zhao’s parents and cousin. They have also helped with the cost of the process.
“It became clear to me that someone has to do something – here you have a family in China with a very low income who went into debt and borrowed money to send their daughter to B.C.,” says Kwan.
“Their daughter ends up being murdered and no one has been able to give them a concrete answer on the status of their case or been able to assist them to bring closure to this tragedy.”
It is hoped that the family’s presence in Canada will facilitate the case through direct contact with both the governmental agencies and ministers involved.
The current stalemate is due to a combination of bureaucratic issues, not the least of which is the lack of an extradition treaty between China and Canada. China has requested the details of the case in order to try Li in China, but because of Canada’s concerns regarding the death penalty has yet to receive any evidence from the Canadian government.
David Matas, the lawyer for Lai Changxing, a Chinese national currently residing in Canada but wanted by the Chinese authorities, says the Chinese government would prefer to try the case in China.
“However, Canada, as I understand it, will not hand over the evidence to China because the Government of Canada wants a guarantee that China will not seek nor impose the death penalty before they hand over evidence. China has given this sort of guarantee to CanadaChina to Canada whom it wants returned (through deportation not extradition) but not in the case of fugitives from Canada who have returned to China.” in the case of fugitives from
In the midst of this bureaucratic nightmare Amanda Zhao’s parents continue to grieve and wait – while their daughter’s accused killer walks free.
Kwan says she is hopeful that a case-specific special extradition can be made. If that is not possible she believes the RCMP should hand over the evidence regardless of the potential consequences, even though she would rather see Li tried under Canadian law.
“He has a choice: to come back here willingly and be charged in Canada or to remain in China. If he chooses to stay in China I don’t see why he shouldn’t be charged in China.
The family wants to see him charged. I think the RCMP should provide the info and evidence to the Chinese authorities.”
Zhao and Li shared a basement suite with Li’s cousin, Zhang Han, who was arrested and charged as an accessory after the fact. He told the court that Li killed Zhao and asked Zhang to help dispose of her body.
The Department of Justice has been silent on the issue since Li fled to China and refused to comment on the current lack of progress.
“We do not disclose discussions or joint efforts that we may be engaged in with our foreign counterparts, because it would not be in the interests of justice for suspects to know what investigative steps are being undertaken,” said a spokesperson.
