NSW: Japanese student to be extradited to Queensland

AAP General News (Australia)
08-01-2006
NSW: Japanese student to be extradited to Queensland

SYDNEY, Aug 1 AAP - A female Japanese PhD student who has applied for asylum in Australia
was to be extradited from NSW to Queensland today on charges of making death threats against
court employees.

Megumi Ogawa, 39, who has been studying in Australia since 1999, is accused of threatening
to kill a man and a woman who work for the Federal Court.

She allegedly made the threats during more than 150 phone calls to Federal Court staff in May.

Ogawa was remanded in custody during a brief appearance in Sydney's Central Local Court
today following her arrest on an extradition warrant at midday yesterday.

Crown Prosecutor Lara Gallagher told Magistrate Allan Moore that Ogawa was on bail
for a previous matter when she committed the alleged offences.

Ms Gallagher did not reveal details of the previous allegations and would not elaborate
on the matter to reporters outside the court.

Ogawa was to be escorted by Queensland police to Brisbane on a 2pm flight today.

Ogawa was released on a bridging visa from Villawood Immigration Detention Centre on
Friday. She had been detained there since May, having lost her student visa after an enrolment
dispute with the University of Melbourne.

But her deportation was delayed last week after she lodged an application for asylum
- a visa usually reserved for those fleeing persecution.

The Federal Court today delayed a decision on whether to block her deportation until August 3.

Ogawa, whose address is listed on court papers as the University of Queensland, is
accused of using a carriage service to threaten Tim Conrad and Jane Mussett in May.

According to court papers filed at Central Local Court today, she is also accused of
using a carriage service to menace or harass between April 14 and May 18 this year.

She will be formally charged with those offences upon her return to Queensland.

Mr Moore today remanded Ogawa in custody to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court tomorrow.

AAP kjd/kaj/klw/it/sp

KEYWORD: OGAWA

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