Livestream: Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway fronts on drug smuggler Karel Sroubek

This livestream has ended, but video of the press conference is above.

Immigration Minister Iain-Lees Galloway will speak to media at 1pm regarding drug smuggler Karel Sroubek.

Originally from the Czech Republic, Sroubek fled to New Zealand in 2003 on a false passport.

In 2015, he was convicted of importing MDMA and jailed for almost six years. In 2009 he returned to the Czech Republic, despite implying there was a danger to his life in his home country.

Mr Lees-Galloway granted Sroubek permanent residency earlier this year. However, he later announced he would reconsider the decision after becoming "aware that information may exist that appears on the face of it to directly contradict information that I used and relied upon to make that decision".

In making his initial decision, Mr Lees-Galloway said he used his "absolute discretion" to cancel Sroubek's deportation liability and grant residency. However, he gave no further details due to "privacy and legal reasons".

Earlier this month, the Minister admitted he didn't initially read Sroubek's entire immigration file before making the decision, which took him less than an hour. 

Newshub.