Asylum Seeker Loses Legal Fight Against Detention

An asylum seeker on Wednesday lost his legal bid to be released from detention, where he's been for more than eight months as he awaits deportation.

The High Court dismissed Ahmed Sani Salman's application for a writ of habeas corpus, noting that the Pakistani national had previously committed multiple drugs-related crimes, as well as immigration and traffic-related offences.

It said the government is entitled to view that Salman could pose a threat to the community and his detention is lawful.

The court also agreed with the government that there would be a risk of Salman absconding if he were to be released, noting that he had previously failed to answer court bail.

Salman had told the court he had been mistreated by officers at the Castle Peak Bay Immigration Centre and has been on a partial hunger strike since July in protest.

He complained that for some time he was not given proper medical treatment for his joint pain and only received a painkiller that he was allergic to.

But Judge Anderson Chow rejected this claim, saying there was insufficient evidence to show that doctors at the centre had failed to provide proper treatment for Salman.

Chow said the fact that Salman has no obvious connections to Hong Kong supports his continued detention.

The judge also said the amount of time that Salman has already spent in detention was not unreasonable.

A member of a concern group that has been helping Salman said she had expected this result.

"We understand that the court requires a very strict level of evidence for the detainees to succeed," said Anna Tsui, a member of the CIC Detainees' Rights Concern Group.

Tsui said Salman had stopped his partial hunger strike on Tuesday evening when he realised that the chance of his legal challenge succeeding was slim, but he plans to appeal against the decision.

"I personally visited him on Sunday, he was very thin but he was able to walk and he still spoke with reasonable spirit," she said.