Court Not To Hear Indian Fugitive's Torture Claim

A magistrates’ court hearing an extradition request for an Indian man wanted by New Delhi refused on Wednesday to consider his claim that he could be tortured if he's handed over.

The lawyer for Ramanjit Singh, 30, told Eastern Court that his client could be persecuted if he's sent back to India because of his support for a Sikh separatist movement.

India is requesting his extradition on charges including links to terrorism.

The lawyer said Singh, who's a Hong Kong resident, had already been tortured when he was jailed in India previously, because of his political views.

But magistrate Pang Leung-ting said the court does not have the power to look into allegations surrounding torture abroad.

A lawyer for the Indian government said Singh has committed crimes comparable to 28 offences in Hong Kong, including funding terrorist activities, aiding and abetting others to escape from jail, and possessing a firearm.

Interpol had also issued a wanted notice for the suspect in relation to terrorist activities.

The court's hearing could last several more days.