A Chinese national who bashed a man and woman to death with a hammer in 1990 has been released from Villawood detention center on a bridging visa, thwarting the Australian government's long-held plan to deport him to China

Wang Zhen was due to be deported after his visa was cancelled on character grounds following his 1992 conviction for the murder of his flatmates. Wang, who came to Australia to study English, murdered Chen Yue, 27, and Wang Zhi Ping, 29, at their Parramatta home. After binding the bodies, Wang attached rocks to them and dumped them in the Parramatta River. He served a 15-year jail sentence for the murders and was sent to Villawood in October 2006. A plane ticket was bought for Wang, but his deportation was cancelled because he faced the prospect of a fresh trial - and possible death sentence - for the same murders if sent to China. Under Chinese law, Wang could have been prosecuted because his victims were Chinese nationals. As a result, Wang spent five years in Villawood in legal limbo as Canberra sought assurances from Beijing that he would not be executed. In 2007, Wang staged a rooftop protest at Villawood and demanded he be allowed to live in the community. Wang was recently released after the Chinese government advised Australian authorities that such assurances would not be forthcoming. As a result, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen took the unusual step of issuing Wang a "removal-pending bridging visa" giving him work rights and limited access to social security services such as Medicare. The issuing of such a visa was in line with recommendations from the Human Rights Commission and the Commonwealth Ombudsman, a spokesman for the minister said. The opposition immigration spokesman, Scott Morrison, said that before a removal-pending visa was issued the minister must be satisfied the release was in the public interest. "I find it hard to conceive why somebody who has been convicted of two violent murders being released into the community could be in the public interest," Morrison said.