Alleged American rapist challenges US extradition request

Описание: (19 Jul 2007) SHOTLIST
1. Tilt down of court building
2. Flag of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
3. Wide of court building entrance
4. Giles Surman, the lawyer of Kenneth John Freeman coming out from the court building
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Giles Surman, defendant lawyer:
"He has decided to contest the extradition request, which he is perfectly entitled to do."
6. Wide of court building entrance
7. Close of the sign reading "Law Courts" in both Chinese and English
8. Close of Wayne Walsh, Hong Kong government lawyer
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Wayne Walsh, Hong Kong government lawyer:
"On that date (Sept 10, 2007), we will present the evidence on behalf of the government of the United States in support of the extradition request, and Mr Freeman's counsel will present any arguments and opposition to the request, and the magistrate will make a ruling whether or not to order surrender."
10. Wide of a police car driving out from the court building
11. Wide of the court building entrance
12. Filming on an internet photo showing Freeman carrying his daughter
13. Scrolling down of website showing Freeman's personal information with his photo
14. A website showing Freeman overview titled "A Father's Breach of Trust" with his photo
STORYLINE
An American man accused of raping his daughter and posting videos of the abuse online has challenged a US request to extradite him from Hong Kong, his lawyer said on Thursday.
Kenneth John Freeman, who fled to China and was arrested while travelling to Hong Kong, will fight extradition to his home country, lawyer Giles Surman said.
"He has decided to contest the extradition request, which he is perfectly entitled to do," said Surman.
Freeman attended a brief court proceeding in Hong Kong on Thursday that scheduled the hearing for his challenge for September 10.
Wearing a white dress shirt and black pants, Freeman was handcuffed and chained around his waist. He did not speak.
Surman said the hearing on September 10 will take a day but that the judge may not issue a decision on the extradition the same day.
"We will present the evidence on behalf of the government of the United States and supports the extradition request, and Mr Freeman's counsel will present any arguments and opposition to the request, and the magistrate will make a ruling whether or not to order surrender," Hong Kong government lawyer Wayne Walsh said.
Freeman has been charged in Benton County Superior Court in Washington state with three counts of child rape and jumping bail.
He faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted.
He also faces federal charges of producing and distributing child pornography.
The 44-year-old bodybuilder, who used to be a volunteer reserve sheriff's deputy, had been on the US Marshals Service and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's most-wanted list.
Freeman fled his home in Seattle last year after his 17-year-old daughter told her mother that he had assaulted her four years earlier.
The teenager also went on national television to tell her story, which helped identify her as the victim in a series of child pornography videos on the Internet, according to the US Marshals Service.
Freeman flew from Vancouver, Canada, to Hong Kong in March 2006, then to China, according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Chinese authorities helped track down Freeman in the eastern city of Suzhou near Shanghai, where he is believed to have been working as a computer adviser for a US-based company.
Hong Kong authorities arrested Freeman in May at the border with mainland China.

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