A Hong Kong man has been returned to a Philippine prison in what his legal team condemned as “unlawful detention”, after extreme weather conditions halted his deportation following his release.
Tang Lung-wai’s Filipino lawyer, Blessy Rose Carpena, told the South China Morning Post that prison authorities accompanied Tang to the immigration office last Friday.
However, due to the suspension of government offices due to the passing of a typhoon, he was returned to the New Bilibid high-security prison in Muntinlupa.
“(The Immigration Bureau’s) delay in his release could constitute unlawful detention,” Carpena said, describing Tang as “frustrating and devastating.”
Tang was arrested in the Philippines in July 2000 for possession of methamphetamine, also known as Ace, and was sentenced to 40 years in prison in 2011. He maintained his innocence and fought the conviction for more than two decades.
In late July, a Manila court ruled that Tang’s sentence had been fully served after taking into account good conduct allowances, and ordered his immediate release and deportation.
