Chinese national ‘Alex’ Feng confirmed to be safe in custody of Immigration Department after being released from prison
With questions being asked earlier this week about the whereabouts
of Chinese national Tianzhao “Alex” Feng, reports are that he is
being held by the Immigration Department at the Defence Force
Camp Blizzard base.
When Feng first appeared in the St. John’s Magistrates’ Court,
charged with arson, it was noted that he had no legal status in the
country. Accordingly, his immigration status is now being
investigated.
At the time, he was also not in possession of his passport, as,
allegedly, his employers were holding onto it and were responsible
for extending his legal stay.
Feng reportedly was released from prison on June 9, after having
been sentenced, on March 29, for arson, to which he pleaded guilty
on February 17 this year.
He received a three-year prison sentence, with the almost two years
he spent on remand, while awaiting trial, taken into account.
However, Feng’s release reportedly came as a shock to his attorney,
Wendel Robinson, who says he had not been informed.
Feng was picked up by the Immigration Department after being let
out of His Majesty’s Prison, which, reportedly, is the usual procedure
for persons who are not citizens or legal residents.
Feng, 33, had set fire to the popular supermarket XPZ, located on
Factory Road, on June 1, 2021, and then went into hiding for several
days before turning himself in to the police.
He told social workers that he had committed the offense because of
cruel and inhumane treatment at the hands of his employers and the
poor living conditions he was enduring at the time.
Many of Feng’s former co-workers and several locals insisted that
the Chinese man was a gentle person who had been severely
mistreated.
Robinson has expressed concern for his safety, and some believe
that harm will come to him if he is repatriated to China.
The Immigration Department may have to make an application
before the Court for him to be sent back to the country of his birth.
