Couple struggling to remain in NZ disgusted drug dealer Karel Sroubek was granted residency

Monday, 29 October 2018

Czech national Karel Sroubek, also known as Jan Antolik, was granted permanent residency, despite being in prison for importing MDMA.

A couple battling to remain in New Zealand say they're outraged at the Immigration Minister's decision to grant residency to a jailed drug-dealer.

Minister of Immigration Iain Lees-Galloway made a special decision to grant the Czech national residency, even though he came to New Zealand on a false passport and is now serving time in Auckland South prison for importing drugs with a street value of $375,000.

Karel Sroubek, 37, fled to New Zealand with a friend's passport in 2003. He claimed he was on the run from corrupt cops after witnessing a murder.

Steve Campbell and his partner Chiching Tong, from Hong Kong, are fighting for Tong to stay in New Zealand as a permanent resident.

Under the name Jan Antolik he built a new life as a businessman, a representative-level kickboxer, and a Hells Angels associate, eventually landing in jail for smuggling MDMA.

Kickboxer Jan Antolik, whose real name is Karel Sroubek, is a Czech national who was jailed for importing MDMA into New Zealand.

Steve Campbell and his partner Chiching Tong, from Hong Kong, have been trying for several months to secure Tong permanent residency.

Their most recent application was declined because Campbell had already reached the limit of sponsoring two residency applications – a previous one by Tong, and one by his ex-wife.

Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway.

Campbell said on Monday Lees-Galloway's decision to grant Sroubek permanent residency 'disgusts me beyond belief'.

'I just feel upset that somebody with a conviction, who's currently in jail, can get what appears to be any easy bus ticket into New Zealand, whereas people like us are trying to do things honestly, and we get taken down at any opportunity, without being shown any compassion or leniency whatsoever.'

Tong had previously had residency for three years, Cambell said. However, in June it was cancelled because Tong accidentally failed to list a previous name of hers on an immigration form.

The couple was forced to sell their small business in Milford, Auckland, and Tong had returned to Hong Kong.

'We've lived together for seven years, we're very much in love, and the only way to see her now is to travel to Hong Kong.'

The couple would now appeal to the Immigration Protection Tribunal at a cost of thousands of dollars.

'Give decent people a chance who are worthy and deserving - not convicted criminals like this,' Campbell said.

On Monday, Lees-Galloway released a letter outlining the 'strict conditions' of Sroubek's residency, and a statement saying the public interest in the case was deserving of further information.

He released the 'final warning' letter that he sent Sroubek, which communicates the strict conditions he must meet in both the short term and longer term, and said 'that in no way do I condone any of the behaviour that he is associated with'.

During his time in New Zealand, Sroubek has faced several charges relating to drugs and robbery. But he was either acquitted or had his convictions overturned – until he was found guilty of using his drink importation business as a front to smuggle 5kg of MDMA, which is used to make the drug Ecstasy. He was jailed for five years and nine months.

He was refused parole last month: Parole Board panel convenor Judge Phil Gittos said he gave 'evasive, long-winded and … in many respects manifestly untruthful' responses.

Sroubek would have come up for parole again next year, and was to be deported after completing his sentence.

*Audio courtesy of Radio NZ