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Huawei CFO fighting U.S. extradition says her rights were violated

25 September 2019 06:32 (UTC +04:00)

Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou returned to a Vancouver court on Tuesday as her lawyers argued that Canadian authorities abused their powers and violated her rights to gather evidence against her, a claim the government denies, APA reports citing CNN.

Meng, 47, was detained at Vancouver’s airport on Dec. 1 at the request of the United States, where she is charged with bank fraud and accused of misleading HSBC Holdings Plc about Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s business in Iran. She has said she is innocent and is fighting extradition.

Meng was searched and questioned by border officials at the airport after she landed on a flight from Hong Kong. However, it was not until three hours after her arrival that Canadian police arrested Meng and her constitutional rights were invoked.

On Tuesday, the second day of a hearing before Justice Heather Holmes in British Columbia Supreme Court, Meng lawyers continued to push for more disclosure from the government about her detention and arrest.

Evidence shows police originally planned to board Meng’s flight from once it landed in Vancouver and arrest her, her lawyers said, noting the warrant called for immediate arrest. However, that plan changed after a meeting between border and police officials, although the reasons for the change were not clear and, they said, resulted in Meng’s constitutional rights being violated.

Meng lawyer Richard Peck told the judge no one answered Meng when she repeatedly asked border officials why she was being detained. “She was not told she was the subject of an arrest warrant,” Peck said. “She was not told this was a warrant that came out of the U.S. that had to do with activities some years ago.”

As her lawyers spoke, Meng sat next to an interpreter in the well of the courtroom, wearing a short black dress with glittering sequins around the neckline and sleeves. An electronic monitoring device was strapped to her left ankle.

Meng’s lawyers plan to complete their arguments on Wednesday and counsel for the Attorney General of Canada is expected to tell the judge the government view when the hearing resumes on Monday.

The extradition hearing itself is set to begin in January in a legal effort that could go on for years.