Body-in-suitcase ‘killer’ who sparked Hong Kong protests is FREED after failed extradition to Taiwan

THE prime suspect in the slaying of a pregnant woman - whose case sparked Hong Kong's protests - has been freed from jail after Taiwan failed to have him extradited.
Chilling CCTV images released around the time of Poon Hiu-wing's disappearance show the man accused of her murder, Chan Tong-kai, pulling a pink suitcase from a hotel, allegedly with his girlfriend's body stuffed inside it.
Chan, 20, and his girlfriend Poon, 21, both from Hong Kong, had travelled to Taipei early last year for a holiday.
However Chan returned to Hong Kong alone.
His girlfriend's decomposing body was later found packed in a suitcase and dumped among tall grass in a field, near a riverside spot in a suburban area of Taipei, Taiwan's capital.
Chan made off with her bank card, mobile phone and other valuables.
After fleeing back to Hong Kong, he was sentenced to 29 months' jail on money-laundering charges.
He was given an early release on Wednesday.
Chan told reporters outside prison: "I am willing, for my impulsive actions and things I did wrong, to surrender myself, to return to Taiwan to face sentencing and stand trial."
He said he had made an "unforgivable mistake" and was willing to plead guilty and turn himself in to Taiwan for trial.
Although he wouldn't say when he'd turn himself in, Chan added: "I hope her family can be relieved a bit and let her rest in peace.
"For the society, for Hong Kongers, I can only be sorry. I hope you can all forgive me ... let me be a new person and give me the opportunity to return to society."
His freedom coincided with the day that Hong Kong authorities scrapped an unpopular extradition bill that has sparked months of chaotic and violent protests.
For Hong Kongers, I can only be sorry. I hope you can all forgive me ... let me be a new person and give me the opportunity to return to society.
Chan Tong-kai, murder suspect
The protests have been raging for five months now, and show no sign of abating, despite Hong Kong's change of heart over the extradition bill.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam had repeatedly cited Chan's case as justifying the proposed amendments to the hated extradition legislation.
She said he could not be sent to the self-ruled island of Taiwan to face trial, because there was no extradition agreement in place.
This stoked fears among residents in Hong Kong, which has courts working independently of China, that suspects would be extradited to China, to face justice in the Communist Party-controlled courts.
Taiwan said yesterday that it could send a delegation to bring Chan back to the self-ruled island for the murder trial.
However this was rejected by Hong Kong which said he should be allowed to fly unaccompanied to turn himself in.
SAFETY FEARS
Hong Kong refuses to recognise the legitimacy of Taiwan's legal bodies, which communist leaders in Beijing consider a breakaway province.
China has refused all contact with the administration of Taiwan's directly elected President Tsai Ing-wen over her refusal to endorse Beijing's stance that the island is Chinese territory awaiting annexation.
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Tsai said that, although both the alleged murderer and the victim are from Hong Kong, Taiwan was willing to put Chan on trial if Hong Kong doesn't.
However, she said there was no possibility of Chan simply catching a flight to Taipei - "like a backpacker" - and insisted Taiwan would not sacrifice its sovereignty in handling the case.
Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council warned that allowing the accused killer to take a flight to Taiwan by himself "completely ignored the safety of passengers on the same flights".