Victor Chang's ailing killer to be deported
Authorities are planning to release the man who fatally shot Sydney heart surgeon Victor Chang, provided he is immediately deported from Australia.
Chiew Seng Liew has served 21 years of a maximum jail sentence of 26 years for firing the two shots that killed Dr Chang in July 1991 in a failed extortion attempt.
His accomplice in the attempted extortion, Phillip Choon Tee Lim, was deported to Malaysia two years ago after serving 18 years in prison.
The News South Wales Parole Authority held a private hearing yesterday and ruled Liew should be released on parole, on the condition he be immediately deported to Malaysia.
The 68-year-old is in the hospital wing of Sydney's Long Bay prison suffering from the advanced stages of Parkinson's disease.
Liew was refused parole last year, but the authority has been advised he will not be fit to travel if his health deteriorates further.
"This offender was not sentenced to die in a NSW Correctional Centre. The overall fragility of his condition cannot be denied," a report to the authority by the Serious Offenders Review Council has advised.
The decision is now open to submissions before a public hearing will be held on the matter in July.