Canada
Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou extradition hearings continue this week in Vancouver. The last round of the case hearing sessions in the Supreme Court of British Columbia (BC) started in October and continued to November, entering into another week of December. The Crown counsel and defense lawyers have cross-examined a total of 8 witnesses, with an extra one refusing to court.
Meng is facing extradition to the United States on fraud charges. Meng and Huawei deny the allegations she lied to HSBC, putting the bank at risk of violating American sanctions against Iran.
In court, the judge has heard testimony that illustrates how the legal process was abused during 3 hours border check on December 1st, 2018 in Vancouver International airport. Among other revelations, there was some key highlights in the hearing sessions. One of the two RCMP officers who handled the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou on Dec. 1, 2018 did not read the warrant – and the included provision for immediate arrest – issued by a B.C. Supreme Court judge, the court heard Monday. Under the cross-examination of defense lawyer Scott Fenton, Dhaliwal admitted he did not read the warrant and the details contained within, including the provision that the Huawei executive be arrested immediately.
Canada Border Services Agency Superintendent Sanjit Dhillon had previously told the Court that he developed concerns Meng might have been involved in espionage after reading about her and Huawei on Wikipedia in the hours before her arrival at Vancouver’s airport on December 1, 2018. 10 minutes on Wikipedia gave him suspicions about Iran dealings.
Before Meng’s plane landed, Dhillon said she was flagged in an internal database for an outstanding warrant in her name. Anticipating her arrival, Dhillon testified he found a Wikipedia page about Huawei that said the company doesn’t operate in the United States because of security concerns and that Huawei was suspected of violating U.S.
Meng’s lawyers say that her devices and passwords were seized in an evidence-gathering exercise orchestrated by the FBI, and that Katragadda was a police proxy.–APP
