Man wanted over Shanghai prostitute's murder loses extradition fight

Chinese criminal investigators allege Kim killed Ms Chen at his Shanghai home. Photo / File / Thinkstock

A man who has been fighting extradition to China where he faces a murder charge has lost his bid to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Kyung Yup Kim, a Korean-born New Zealand resident, is accused of murdering a prostitute in Shanghai.

He has been held in Mt Eden Correctional Facility since June 2011, while the extradition request has been before the courts.

Kim arrived in New Zealand from South Korea in October 2010, and an extradition request was received from China in May 2011.

A decision of the Supreme Court, released today, noted he has challenged every step of the extradition process, and had been before the courts many times.

In November 2013, the courts found he could be extradited if approved by the Minister of Justice.

Kim applied to the High Court for that order to be discharged, and applied for habeas corpus - a claim of unlawful imprisonment - on the basis the warrant for his detention had been issued under the wrong section of law.

He also challenged his detention on the grounds that he was denied due process.

The applications were dismissed, and a further challenge in the Court of Appeal was also unsuccessful.

Kim then applied to the Supreme Court on two grounds of appeal.

The first was that he was detailed "arbitrarily without a hearing, without natural justice, without a lawyer, and without legal aid". Secondly, he said the Court of Appeal dealt incorrectly with a matter of law.

The Supreme Court said nothing had been raised which cast doubt on whether he could be legally detained, and the matter of law raised was of no significance.

"For these reasons we are satisfied that there is no issue of general or public importance in the proposed appeal, nor is there any indication of a substantial miscarriage of justice."

The application was dismissed.

Chinese investigators allege Kim killed Peiyun Chen, 20, at his Shanghai home on December 11, 2009 before dumping her body in a wasteland and fleeing to South Korea three days later.

Authorities have said China would not seek the death penalty if Kim were extradited and convicted.