TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to block Poland from extraditing a Taiwanese online fraud suspect to China could set a precedent, human rights organization Safeguard Defenders said Thursday (Nov. 3).

The Polish court system, including its Supreme Court, had ruled in favor of extradition, but the Oct. 6 ruling by the ECtHR said Liu Hongtao would be “placed at significant risk of ill-treatment and torture” in China.

The verdict will “most likely mean European countries will find it near impossible to extradite suspects to China again,” the human rights group said on its website. Liu was not a dissident or a critic of the communist government in Beijing, but a suspect in a white-collar crime case, which China usually could easily win.

Because the ECtHR verdict was unanimous, Poland was unlikely to file an appeal, allowing the ruling to take effect three months from Oct. 6, leading to the suspect’s release. Liu, 42, has also been detained for more than five years in Poland awaiting a decision, in violation of human rights laws, the report said.

Safeguard Defenders called on the EU to refuse all requests for extradition by China and to halt all cases that have been approved but not executed yet. The European countries that have extradition treaties with China should suspend them, and Greece and Turkey should refrain from ratifying such treaties, the human rights group said.

Liu was accused of membership in a fraud ring based in Spain, which extradited 208 Taiwanese to China in 2017-2018. He was arrested in Poland in August 2017 after Interpol issued a red notice for him.