Court: Poland will not extradite activist wanted by China

Zhihui Li, an active member of the Falun Gong organisation has been suspected of a grand scale fraud (approx. 1 million dollars) by the Chinese prosecutor's office. In 2019, the activist was detained at an airport in Poland, the border guard identified him as a person wanted by Interpol. Soon after China officially asked for the man to be extradited.

In order to make the extradition possible, courts had to decide there were no legal obstacles on the way. Zhihui Li's attorney stressed that his client was a member of Falun Gong, an organisation brutally persecuted by Beijing. He also warned that his client's extradition to China would likely end with death in torture.

Despite the attorney's efforts, courts of the first and second instances both allowed for the man to handed over. Attorney Krzysztof Kitajgrodzki, however, did not give up and asked the Commissioner for Human Rights for intervention, who, in turn, referred the case to the Supreme Court. In January, 2021, Poland's top court referred the case back to the Court of Appeals in Warsaw, which, as Mr Kitajgrodzki told tvn24.pl portal, has just ruled that his client cannot be extradited to China.

"The case took an unexpected turn. I thought the court would only focus to examine the Supreme Court's recommendations, but the judge decided he was ready to pass a legally binding verdict not allowing for my client's extradition" - Mr Kitajgrodzki said after leaving the courtroom.

According to the verdict, Zhihui Li is to be immediately released from custody.

"I'm going to pick him right away. For the time being, he will stay in Poland as only here he can feel safe. That's because the court has also lifted the Interpol's red notice on national territory" - added the attorney.

Polish law prohibits extraditing people to countries where they would face death penalty or human rights violation. The ultimate decision is made by the justice minister, however, first the court needs to ascertain there are no legal obstacles.

Last year, the courts did not find obstacles to hand over the activist, as Chinese officials had reassured the man would have been treated fairly and offered providing details regarding his trial and detention conditions.

The approach taken by Polish judges has been criticised by international human rights activists.

"Anyone having even the slightest idea about the Chinese justice system should know never to trust such promises" - prof. Eva Pils of King's College told tvn24.pl.

Supreme Court Justice Przemysław Kalinowski, who had referred the case back for re-examination, said in January that the law dictates that all potential concerns as to observing wanted persons' rights by the country demanding extradition should be closely examined. None of the court had done that.

"When an EU citizen is wanted by a non-EU state, the case needs to be examined in the context of EU regulations. Taking that into account, it's hard to ignore the fact that a lifetime prison sentence is hardly acceptable by the European law standards" - justice Kalinowski said. In Poland, a large scale fraud carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.