Queens officer who spied on Tibetans in
NYC for China denied pretrial release: Feds
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.20 COM | DEC. 18-DEC. 24, 2020
argued that their defendant
wouldn’t skip
town before his trial
in an appeal filed in
court earlier this year.
Additionally, they argued
that the court had
committed a legal error
in Angwang’s initial
proceeding by using
the allegations against
him to determine his
“history and characteristics.”
Lawyers for the
defendant also argued
that the court had committed
several factual
errors related to an interview
with Angwang
in their decision to detain
him.
Ultimately, the court
found no fault in its initial
decision.
Angwang, who lives
in Williston Park in
Long Island, came to
the U.S. on a cultural
exchange visa and overstayed
a second visa,
eventually becoming a
naturalized citizen after
seeking asylum in
the U.S.
In his asylum claim,
the officer alleged that
he had suffered arrest
and torture at the
hands of the Chinese
government when in
realty, as the criminal
complaint alleges, he
was working with the
Chinese consulate to
report on ethnic Tibetans
living in the city.
Angwang faces up to
55 years behind bars if
convicted.
BY JACOB KAYE
The alleged Chinese
spy who worked as a
community affairs officer
in a northeast
Queens police precinct
will be jailed until
his trial, the U.S. Attorney’s
Office for the
Eastern District of New
York announced on Friday.
Baimadajie Angwang,
a community
affairs officer in the
NYPD’s 111th Precinct,
appealed the court’s
decision to detain him
prior to his trial. The
appeal was denied on
Friday, Dec. 11.
Angwang is accused
of acting as an unregistered
foreign agent,
working with two members
of the Chinese
consulate in New York
since 2018 to provide
information on activities
of Tibetans living
in the New York City
area, according to the
feds. The naturalized
U.S. citizen has also
been charged with wire
fraud, false statements
and obstruction of an
official proceeding.
Angwang’s lawyers
Police Officer Baimadajie Angwang of the 111th Precinct
was charged on Sept. 21, 2020 with acting as a secret
agent for the Chinese government.
Photo via Twitter/@nypd111pct
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