The Attorney General of Canada says there is no evidence that border officials acted improperly when they arrested Huawei Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Meng Wanzhou last year, refuting arguments from her defence team that her extradition to the US should be halted.
Meng was arrested in Canada on December 1 and is facing extradition to the US to answer charges of fraud. It is alleged that Wanzhou aided Huawei to avoid sanctions on doing business in Iran, which if proven, could have put multinational banking organisations at risk of breaking those sanctions too.
She denies the accusations and was granted bail shortly after.
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Meng Wanzhou extradition
Her extradition hearing is not scheduled to begin until January next year, but her legal team is seeking additional disclosures relating to the arrest – including contact between Canadian and US authorities.
Meng’s lawyers say there was a delay in implementing her legal rights and that there are omissions in the Canadian officer’s notes. They also claim the arrest was political given the current trade tensions between the US and Canada, and Huawei’s ongoing issues in America.
The Attorney General’s says officers acted lawfully and that Meng’s team had not provided enough evidence that could halt the extradition proceedings.
The incident has exacerbated Huawei’s issues, heightened tensions between the US and China, while also causing a deterioration between Canada and Beijing. Chinese authorities have called for immediate release.
Meng is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, who has also suggested the arrest was politically motivated. Huawei has long been excluded from the US market on national security grounds and earlier this year the US Commerce Department prohibited American firms from doing business with the company.
Huawei has frequently denied all allegations, while the US has never produced any evidence to support its claims.
US President Donald Trump has previously suggested he could intervene in the case, likely as part of a trade deal that would allow Huawei to deal with US suppliers. However his position has been inconsistent over the past few months.
Via Reuters
