Thai Wife Convicted Of Infecting Canadian Husband With H I V

[Jet Gorgon]

At the beginning of the thread,it was stated that the woman had been AID's tested in Hong Kong,and that she tested positive.After testing positive, I would imagine a counseling cession,to explain this disease,and it's consequences.Therefore she knew.

Imagine this guy sitting at the bar at 1 o'clock in the morning,drinking since he got off of work,after his boss has been given him shit all day.Through his numbed brain and out of his red,smoke filled,watery eyes,he beholds this exotic beauty(yes, I saw her picture)slinging her stuff around a big pole.The man is consumed by lust as well as alcohol.All caution is thrown to the wind as he indulges himself.He must surely be called stupid,and should be punished with a withering disease,for no man has ever acted this way before.The exotic diseased beauty, should be better understood,after all she has her own problems, and can't be blamed for this mans lust,and his irresponsible behavior in lacking to find a condom.Nor should she put in a position of having to provide condoms,to drunk, lustful men, who should want to taste her wares.Even thought she knows she is diseased,after all,someone did that to her.

I am sure Canadians sleep better at night, knowing that,she is of low risk, of doing this again.After 3 yrs. of rest and health care,She should certainly be able to enter the work force,with the many skills, she has educated herself with in life.Repenting and never doing this again.

Oh, come on, fess up, you are on the Canadian judicial board. Pound the gavel and give her a day in solitary to get cleaned up. Bless, Mellow1.

[kuma]

we do - but the girls all have to wear parkas (winter coats for those of you who have never had to buy one)

the only exception is nfld, coats not required but they do need to wear rubber boots

Remind me NEVER to go to a strip club in Canada.

I am utterly shocked that they even have such establishments in Canada...

[mmushr00m]

<br />At the beginning of the thread,it was stated that the woman had been AID's tested in Hong Kong,and that she tested positive.After testing positive, I would imagine a counseling cession,to explain this disease,and it's consequences.Therefore she knew.<br /> Imagine this guy sitting at the bar at 1 o'clock in the morning,drinking since he got off of work,after his boss has been given him shit all day.Through his numbed brain and out of his red,smoke filled,watery eyes,he beholds this exotic beauty(yes, I saw her picture)slinging her stuff around a big pole.The man is consumed by lust as well as alcohol.All caution is thrown to the wind as he indulges himself.He must surely be called stupid,and should be punished with a withering disease,for no man has ever acted this way before.The exotic diseased beauty, should be better understood,after all she has her own problems, and can't be blamed for this mans lust,and his irresponsible behavior in lacking to find a condom.Nor should she put in a position of having to provide condoms,to drunk, lustful men, who should want to taste her wares.Even thought she knows she is diseased,after all,someone did that to her.<br /> I am sure Canadians sleep better at night, knowing that,she is of low risk, of doing this again.After 3 yrs. of rest and health care,She should certainly be able to enter the work force,with the many skills, she has educated herself with in life.Repenting and never doing this again.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

As a Canadian, I disagree with you about me sleeping better. She knew she was HIV+ and she knowingly gave it to the guy. It should be seen at the very least as manslaughter, as she basically killed him, a slow and lingering death. She did not care and I doubt she cares now either.

Also as to your story on how he got into the predicament..................not likely. I have gone out with strippers in TO and it has always been condoms, condoms, condoms from the girls.

[LinkPopularity]

execute her !

[Dakhar]

At least cigarette companies have to have a warning..... maybe an Hiv tatoo?

[sriracha john]

UPDATE

Jail urged for HIV wife

Ex-stripper who infected husband blames her own ignorance

A Thai stripper who concealed her HIV status and infected her husband with the disease should be imprisoned for three years to protect the public, a Crown attorney says.

John Flaherty said yesterday Suwalee Iamkhong's crimes must be punished with a prison sentence, not a conditional one, "since the risks of infection is so devastating" and like-minded offenders must be deterred.

"She has selfishly and callously embarked on a course of action that so impacted" ex-spouse Percy Whiteman that he faces "potentially fatal consequences," Flaherty told Justice Todd Ducharme at Iamkhong's sentencing hearing.

Through a Thai interpreter, Iamkong delivered a rambling apology in which she partly blamed her ignorance for her crimes.

"I have only Grade 4 education and I didn't understand this matter of HIV. I didn't consult anyone because I didn't realize the HIV virus would be this deadly," Iamkhong, 38, said.

"I am genuinely sorry and I would like to apologize to my husband for having received a positive result; he should look after himself. Now I realize from the beginning of the case three years until now, how severe this disease can be."

Her lawyer, David Berg, said Iamkhong loved Whiteman and shouldn't be treated like HIV-infected predators who hide their condition from unsuspecting casual sex partners. The judge disagreed.

"It's hard to imagine a more fundamental betrayal of marriage," Ducharme said.

"She's not having 15 one-night stands. Instead she's having repeated high-risk sexual activity in the face of what she knew," he said. "She was actively misleading him. I have trouble understanding how that isn't callous."

Berg said his client was in a loving relationship with Whiteman and was distinguishable from the predators exposing multiple partners. She has already served 38 months of house arrest and court-ordered celibacy while awaiting sentencing.

Ducharme will pass sentence on Aug. 16.

"She has given me a life sentence, but now it's up to the judge to mete out a proper sentence next month," Whiteman said. "I loved her. She too has a life sentence, but she must now be deterred from spreading this disease to anyone else."

- Toronto Sun

[pop_corn]

It's Canada. She's a minority race, a woman and they met in a strip club. She'll get a scolding from the judge, and then file for divorce and get half of her stupid husband's possessions.

stupid husband? i think she was the stupid here.

[canadiangirl]

Sure, I feel sorry for the guy, but he's not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, is he? No one deserves to get HIV, but let's face it, having unprotected sex with someone who is/was a sex worker is obviously a bad idea. Like Jet, I'm really against this 0 personal responsability that seems to prevail in North America. He clearly bears some of the blame for his plight; if he had taken the precautions most reasonable people would under the circumstances (both get tested before they start having unprotected sex), this wouldn't probably have happened.

[canadiangirl]

Through a Thai interpreter, Iamkong delivered a rambling apology in which she partly blamed her ignorance for her crimes.

"I have only Grade 4 education and I didn't understand this matter of HIV. I didn't consult anyone because I didn't realize the HIV virus would be this deadly," Iamkhong, 38, said.

So...wait, she has a 4th grade education, and she has to speak through a Thai interpreter --- so her English is probably not that good -- and somehow she "tricked" him, this Canadian man who's had at least a good 12 years of education (mandatory by law here)? Whatever sex ed is like in Thailand, we gets tons of it here, and there's free condoms everywhere, and lots and lots of HIV education. He should have known better than to have unprotected sex with a (ex-)hooker even if she didn't.

Edited July 11, 2007 by canadiangirl

[Jimjim]

What's education got to do with it? If she knew she had HIV, I'm sure they told her how deadly it is when she got a positive test. Give me a break. It takes about one minute to learn.

[canadiangirl]

What's education got to do with it? If she knew she had HIV, I'm sure they told her how deadly it is when she got a positive test. Give me a break. It takes about one minute to learn.

Education has everything to do with it. He got "tricked", in his own country, by a foreign stripper with a 4th grade education who barely speaks English. I think I feel ashamed that our education system could produce such an idiot.

[Jimjim]

I mean on her side, not his.

[qwertz]

Having just read this thread at length I find myself feeling very sorry for both parties.

Since I can't imagine life from where they sit, I can only speculate on how horrific every single day must be for them.

As Bendix ( I think) observed, even stupid people have rights.

But imagine a bunch of avaricious aids viruses scoping the next host, "No rocket scientist here, never mind, this idiot will do."

It may be hard for a bunch of highly intelligent TVers to grasp just how stupid people can be but I know some in LOS and Europe who really are so ignorant that they are not capable of considering the risks.

This case is only a little unusual in that two equally ignorant people happened to get together.

He may have had it first, she may have had it first, maybe they were both infected by third parties.

The point is, they should be pitied and protected, at least from themselves.

It's easy for most of us to be wise after the event but I believe this pair never had a capacity for wisdom.

CG is right too, he or both of them should have known better.

But they didn't, did they?

I'm far too old and shopworn to wax puritanical so I think it suffices to say this is a wake up call to everyone that promiscuity can kill.

Okay, safe sex is a little pedestrian compared to wild abandon but compared to the very real risks of the latter, it's by far the better option.

[Jimjim]

Everyone should get tested before they enter into a sexual relationship with a previously promiscuous partner. HIV tests and the whole gambit should be done by both parties before marriage as well.

[canadiangirl]

Having just read this thread at length I find myself feeling very sorry for both parties.

Since I can't imagine life from where they sit, I can only speculate on how horrific every single day must be for them.

As Bendix ( I think) observed, even stupid people have rights.

But imagine a bunch of avaricious aids viruses scoping the next host, "No rocket scientist here, never mind, this idiot will do."

It may be hard for a bunch of highly intelligent TVers to grasp just how stupid people can be but I know some in LOS and Europe who really are so ignorant that they are not capable of considering the risks.

This case is only a little unusual in that two equally ignorant people happened to get together.

He may have had it first, she may have had it first, maybe they were both infected by third parties.

The point is, they should be pitied and protected, at least from themselves.

It's easy for most of us to be wise after the event but I believe this pair never had a capacity for wisdom.

CG is right too, he or both of them should have known better.

But they didn't, did they?

I'm far too old and shopworn to wax puritanical so I think it suffices to say this is a wake up call to everyone that promiscuity can kill.

Okay, safe sex is a little pedestrian compared to wild abandon but compared to the very real risks of the latter, it's by far the better option.

Hey qwertz, I agree with you, It's not like either of them "deserves" to get HIV, and it must be devastating for both of them. It must be hard to swallow to have made such a big mistake, and he must feel betrayed by his wife as well. I just think it's very unfair of him to make certain not-so-wise choices (marrying a 38-year old stripper with a 4th grade education and not get HIV tests for both of them), then turn around and put the blame 100% on her (and oh yeah, let's not forget he blames society as well!) when it goes wrong.

[qwertz]

Poor buggers.

This thread has depressed me, I'm going to bed.

[Tinkelbell]

What's education got to do with it? If she knew she had HIV, I'm sure they told her how deadly it is when she got a positive test. Give me a break. It takes about one minute to learn.

Not bad for a girl who finished 4th grade, had an ability to make the guy fell in love with her, married her and brought her back to Canada. I wonder how she did all these with her little education as she had claimed.

I found it's hard to believe all those lame excuses that she put on the show in the court room.

I hope she receives a harsh sentence that fits her crime.

Remember her husband claims he got a life sentence, so she should gets the same as well.

It's fair enough.

[LaoPo]

I have been following this case a bit but didn't read all posts.

I asked myself what I would do...

1. I would never go to court.

2. I would even never leave or abandon my wife (even if she would have HIV or another deadly disease, from a previous contact) and, I'm quite sure of that, she would do the same (not leave).

3. We would accept our fate and make the best of it.

4. Till dead makes us apart.

It's about -deep- love for one another but sometimes 2 people meet and start loving each other, for whatever reasons, at the wrong place, wrong time and wrong moment in life.

In fact it could happen to all of us.....ALL of us.

The latter happened with the 2 people involved, but to be honest, I can't understand the man going to court...(if that's what he did, I don't know), but IF he did, what does he gain ?

Justice?

LaoPo

[TAWP]

Pretty lame to rag on someone who caught HIV.

Yes, it's easier to kick on someone that is down. So the usual suspects love doing it.

[sriracha john]

UPDATE

Jail urged for HIV wife

Ex-stripper who infected husband blames her own ignorance

A Thai stripper who concealed her HIV status and infected her husband with the disease should be imprisoned for three years to protect the public, a Crown attorney says.

John Flaherty said yesterday Suwalee Iamkhong's crimes must be punished with a prison sentence, not a conditional one, "since the risks of infection is so devastating" and like-minded offenders must be deterred.

"She has selfishly and callously embarked on a course of action that so impacted" ex-spouse Percy Whiteman that he faces "potentially fatal consequences," Flaherty told Justice Todd Ducharme at Iamkhong's sentencing hearing.

Through a Thai interpreter, Iamkong delivered a rambling apology in which she partly blamed her ignorance for her crimes.

"I have only Grade 4 education and I didn't understand this matter of HIV. I didn't consult anyone because I didn't realize the HIV virus would be this deadly," Iamkhong, 38, said.

"I am genuinely sorry and I would like to apologize to my husband for having received a positive result; he should look after himself. Now I realize from the beginning of the case three years until now, how severe this disease can be."

Her lawyer, David Berg, said Iamkhong loved Whiteman and shouldn't be treated like HIV-infected predators who hide their condition from unsuspecting casual sex partners. The judge disagreed.

"It's hard to imagine a more fundamental betrayal of marriage," Ducharme said.

"She's not having 15 one-night stands. Instead she's having repeated high-risk sexual activity in the face of what she knew," he said. "She was actively misleading him. I have trouble understanding how that isn't callous."

Berg said his client was in a loving relationship with Whiteman and was distinguishable from the predators exposing multiple partners. She has already served 38 months of house arrest and court-ordered celibacy while awaiting sentencing.

Ducharme will pass sentence on Aug. 16.

"She has given me a life sentence, but now it's up to the judge to mete out a proper sentence next month," Whiteman said. "I loved her. She too has a life sentence, but she must now be deterred from spreading this disease to anyone else."

- Toronto Sun

UPDATE... she was convicted at that hearing last year and was sentenced to 3 years in prison... and now, she faces deportation back to Thailand...

HIV-infected stripper faces deportation

Woman convicted in 2007 after infecting husband

OTTAWA - An HIV-infected stripper who infected her husband faces possible deportation from Canada after being convicted of criminal negligence and aggravated assault for knowingly passing on the virus that causes AIDS.

In a ruling released Tuesday, the Federal Court dismissed a challenge from Suwalee Iamkhong, who came to Canada from Hong Kong on a work visa in 1995 to work as an exotic dancer in Toronto.

Originally from Thailand, Iamkhong met Canadian Percy Whiteman soon after arriving in Canada and she married him in 1997.

She had already tested positive for HIV in Hong Kong, but she not reveal her status to her husband until she fell ill and was hospitalized in 2004.

Iamkhong, 39, was sentenced in August 2007 to three years in prison after being convicted of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and aggravated assault.

Federal Court Justice Russel Zinn ruled against Iamkhong in her challenge to a report, prepared by Immigration officials, finding her inadmissable to Canada on grounds of having a criminal record that garnered a sentence of more than two years.

A report, by law, must be prepared for the federal immigration minister before he makes a decision on whether to deport.

Zinn noted that non-citizens may be removed from Canada if they have been convicted of "serious criminality, as the applicant has."

At her trial in January 2007, Iamkhong failed to convince the court that she did not believe she had HIV, despite the positive test result in Hong Kong. She argued that she mistakenly thought she had been tested in Canada for immigration purposes and found to be HIV-negative.

- Canwest News Service / December 16, 2008

Edited December 16, 2008 by sriracha john

[Chang_paarp]

HIV positive, been living in Canada legally for over 10 years, married a Canadian but apparently did not persue PR or citizenship. Now being deported back to Thailand.

Now that is a life sentence.

Wonder how the civil rights folk will react?

[freitag1]

Even though her husband acted pretty stupid she got what she deserved.

[Heng]

HIV positive, been living in Canada legally for over 10 years, married a Canadian but apparently did not persue PR or citizenship. Now being deported back to Thailand.

Now that is a life sentence.

Hopefully she won't be handing out more life sentences herself when she gets back here.

[canadianmonkey]

omg i reconize her.

When i was 17 at my graduation i went to a cheap strip club with like 10 ugly women and 2 good looking.. that girl was eating up scrawny 40yo virgins, almost forcing them to have sex in the booth.. she was disgusting flapping her saggy boobs in everybody's face.

She should be put down, poor guy... already has to suffer lazyness + fatness now he has hiv on top of that

[sriracha john]

Hubby: If you slept with my wife, get a test

Deportee infected with HIV

A Toronto man who was infected with the HIV virus by his stripper ex-wife is pleading for other men who may have had sex with her to get tested for the disease. "I know there were other men she slept with," Percy Whiteman claimed yesterday of his ex, Suwalee Iamkhong, who's fighting deportation from Canada. "I am lucky that I was able to find out early."

Iamkhong, 39, arrived in Canada from Thailand in 1995 and danced at Toronto's Zanzibar Tavern for most of her career, which lasted until 2004.

While Whiteman alleges his former wife had sex with other men, no evidence has yet been presented publicly.

She was sentenced in August 2007 to three years in jail after being convicted of criminal negligence causing bodily harm for infecting Whiteman with HIV. Whiteman, who married Iamkhong in 1997, told court that he didn't know she had AIDS until the woman fell ill in 2004.

The Canadian government wants to deport Iamkhong, who is being detained in an immigration holding facility. A final deportation date has not been set.

Whiteman sponsored Iamkhong and according to immigration laws, is financially responsible for her until 2011. "I don't think justice was fully served," he said. "She should have been deported a long time ago for what she's done to others."

Whiteman has since founded Positive Survivors Living with HIV AIDS to help men in similar situations. "She lied and she put some-one's life at stake," he said. "I've gotten a life sentence and I know there are others out there."

Iamkhong told an immigration hearing she did not believe she had HIV despite a positive test. She claimed to be involved with the Thai AIDS community and contended she will not be able to afford medication if deported.

Deportation action against Iamkhong began last year when it was discovered that she was not a Canadian citizen and had a criminal record. A last-ditch appeal to the Federal Court to quash the deportation was tossed out this month because of the conviction.

"Persons in Canada who are not citizens may be removed from Canada if they have been convicted of serious criminality," Justice Russel Zinn said.

- Toronto Sun / 2008-12-29

[sibeymai]

Where's the proof that she was the one who gave him HIV ? Seems it's possible that he was also playing around with strippers since he used to frequent such places. It's not implausable that he was infected by someone else. Seems the court will convict on probability.

Have I got this wrong, or is there biological proof beyond any reasonable doubt ?

[sriracha john]

Stripper danger to the public

Ordered to remain in jail until deportation

An HIV-positive stripper who was jailed for three years for infecting her ex-husband has been deemed a danger to the public and ordered to remain in jail until her deportation to Thailand.

Suwalee Iamkhong, 39, of Toronto, will likely go underground and fail to show up for a flight home, a Federal Court of Canada has ruled.

The court killed a bid last month by Iamkhong's brother-in-law and friend to have her released on $23,000 in cash and performance bonds.

Mr. Justice Michel Shore said there's no guarantee Iamkhong won't have unprotected sex again.

"If the respondent reoffends by having unprotected sex, this would result in irreparable harm for a victim," Shore said in a Jan. 21 decision.

Iamkhong "was alleging that she did not know about her HIV infection" at an immigration hearing in prison.

Percy Whiteman, who was married to Iamkhong from 1997 to 2004, said his life has been ruined by the disease and has started a self-help group "Positive Survivors Living with HIV/AIDS" at www.positivesurvivors.ca.

"What she did to me was wrong," Whiteman said yesterday. "Nobody in life should have to go through what I am going through."

Whiteman said he never knew of Iamkhong's sexual escapades or that she was HIV positive. He wasn't told of her disease until she collapsed in 2004 and had to be hospitalized.

"I never knew she was a prostitute in Hong Kong before coming to Canada," he said. "Everything came out in court."

Iamkhong was charged by Toronto police and sentenced in August 2007 to three years in jail for criminal negligence causing bodily harm for infecting Whiteman.

He has launched a $30-million lawsuit against the Canada Border Services Agency and the Zanzibar Strip Club in Toronto in connection with the case.

Whiteman said Iamkhong was sexually active with others while they were married.

"I know of other men that I think she infected, as well," he said. "She was dating other people all along."

Iamkhong was interviewed last Thursday by officials from the Thai Consulate in Toronto.

Whiteman sponsored Iamkhong and -- according to immigration laws -- is financially responsible for her until 2011.

- Toronto Sun (Canada) / 2009-02-16

Edited February 16, 2009 by sriracha john

[sriracha john]

HIV stripper deemed danger to the public

TORONTO -- Canada's federal court has ordered an HIV-positive stripper kept in a Toronto jail until she is deported to Thailand.

Suwalee Iamkhong, 39, was sentenced in August 2007 to three years in jail for criminal negligence causing bodily harm for infecting her husband and immigration sponsor Percy Whiteman.

A bid to grant her release on bond was denied by Justice Michel Shore, the Toronto Sun reported.

"If the respondent reoffends by having unprotected sex, this would result in irreparable harm for a victim," Shore wrote in his decision.

Whiteman said he didn't know of Iamkhong's HIV status until she collapsed in 2004 and was hospitalized. He also alleges she had unprotected sex with other men during their marriage, which lasted from 1997 to 2004, the Sun said.

"I never knew she was a prostitute in Hong Kong before coming to Canada," he said. "Everything came out in court."

There was no word on when the deportation was scheduled.

- United Press International / 2009-02-16

[sriracha john]

Thai woman jailed for giving husband HIV pleads for lesser sentence

TORONTO — A former stripper with advanced AIDS who faces deportation to her native Thailand is asking the Ontario Court of Appeal to reduce her prison sentence by even just one day, saying it could mean the difference between life and death.

“I’m really scared,” said Suwalee Iamkhong, 39, who was convicted and sentenced to two years in a penitentiary in 2007 for transmitting HIV to her husband, Percy Whiteman, whom she met while dancing at Toronto’s Zanzibar Tavern.

She was ordered deported on Dec. 16 but remains entangled in a complex web of legal proceedings, where timing is everything.

As long as Iamkhong’s sentence remains two years or longer, she is considered, under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, to have been convicted of “serious criminality” with no right to appeal the deportation order.

Had her sentence been just 24 hours shorter — two years less a day in a provincial institution — she would have a right of appeal.

Iamkhong, who has also been stripped of permanent residency status, said she’s afraid she will not obtain specialized AIDS medication in Thailand and will be ostracized in her village.

Her lawyers are expecting a decision Thursday from the Immigration and Refugee Board on whether she can be free until a date is set for her deportation.

Iamkhong’s appeal from her conviction and sentence is scheduled for March 24, but she could be removed from Canada as soon as citizenship documents are obtained from the Thai government, said her lawyer, Elizabeth Long.

Meanwhile, Whiteman is suing Iamkhong and the federal government for allowing her into Canada. The lawsuit may be in jeopardy if she’s kicked out.

Before the appeals court, Philip Campbell, Iamkhong’s criminal lawyer, is seeking either a stay of the charges, a new trial or a sentence reduction of at least one day.

The trial judge, Todd Ducharme, engaged in “circular reasoning” and misunderstood the evidence, he argues in court documents.

Campbell’s client, who arrived in Canada on a work visa in 1995, was skeptical of a test previously conducted in a “ramshackle” Hong Kong lab showing she was HIV-positive and concluded she did not have HIV after undergoing blood tests in Canada for her visa renewal.

At the trial, Ducharme didn’t believe Iamkhong thought she was HIV-negative, saying anyone faced with conflicting results would have had more tests.

But Ducharme’s conclusions about how a normal person would behave was based on his belief Iamkhong was in doubt about the results, when in fact she was confident she didn’t have the virus, Campbell said.

- Hamilton Spectator (Canada) / 2009-02-18

[sriracha john]

Ex-stripper with AIDS denied release

The federal government plans to kick Suwalee Iamkhong out of the country a week from today. But the former exotic dancer, who has advanced AIDS, hopes a federal judge will look compassionately on her legal Catch-22.

Iamkhong was convicted in 2007 of infecting her former husband with HIV and her appeal is scheduled to be heard March 24. If the Ontario Court of Appeal agrees to reduce her two-year sentence by just one day, she'll have a shot at overturning her deportation order.

Afraid she won't get special AIDS medication in Thailand, Iamkhong believes it could be a matter of life or death.

"What about me? I worry about my life every day," Percy Whiteman, 33, her former husband, told the Star.

"I was a clean human being looking forward to my life and my marriage and now 75 per cent of it is gone," he said. "I was hoping for some closure."

At a detention review hearing yesterday at the Vanier Centre for Women in Milton, an Immigration and Refugee Board adjudicator refused to release Iamkhong, 39, from custody. She received parole last December, but is being held on an immigration warrant.

While the adjudicator rejected arguments from federal lawyers that Iamkhong is a public safety threat, he also concluded she was a flight risk because the people willing to post about $17,000 in bonds to ensure she'd show up for deportation didn't know her well enough, said her lawyer, Elizabeth Long. They included Noulmook Sutdhibhasilp, executive director of Asian Community AIDS Services on Isabella St., with whom Iamkhong, a native of Thailand, planned to reside.

The federal government also announced yesterday it has set Feb. 27 as the date for Iamkhong's removal. She will now ask the Canadian Border Services Agency to defer the order pending resolution of her various court cases. If it refuses, Iamkhong will appeal to a Federal Court judge, said Long, "on humanitarian and compassionate grounds."

In addition to her criminal appeal, Iamkhong is being sued civilly by Whiteman, whom she met while working as a stripper at the Zanzibar tavern. Whiteman is also suing the federal government for allowing her into the country in 1995.

- Toronto Star / 2009-02-20