Crime & Justice

Huawei executive extradition case resumes in Vancouver

Toronto, Canada, Oct 26 (efe-epa).- The case about the extradition of Huawei’s Financial Director Meng Wanzhou, was restarted Monday in a Vancouver court with the questioning of a Canadian Mounted Police agent that on Dec. 1, 2018, arrested the daughter of the Chinese telecoms giant’s founder.

The case concerning Meng, on probation since shortly after his arrest at the Vancouver airport and living with family in one of his mansions in the city, has caused a diplomatic crisis between Canada and China, which accuses Ottawa of violating the human rights of its citizen.

Canada arrested Meng after the United States requested his extradition. Washington accuses Meng and Huawei of bank fraud to violate trade sanctions US authorities imposed against Iran, which Meng’s defense lawyers and the company reject.

Police officers, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and other Canadian officials who participated in Meng’s arrest are scheduled to testify in the Supreme Court of the province of British Columbia over the next five days.

Today, Mounted Police agent Winston Yep, who arrested Meng when Huawei’s management made a stopover in Vancouver on the way to Mexico, was questioned by the Canadian prosecutor’s office, which supports the extradition request to the United States, as well as the lawyers of the Chinese citizen.

Meng’s lawyers allege the United States and Canadian authorities committed abuses during the arrest process of Huawei’s CFO.

In a statement released Monday, Huawei said “Meng’s lawyers will test the extent to which Trump administration officials directed RCMP and CBSA agents to initiate a misleading and inappropriate search, thereby violating an order of the court and Meng’s rights.”

For example, Meng’s legal representatives said CBSA agents illegally shared with the Mounted Police the passwords of the electronic devices that Meng carried when she arrived in Vancouver, and that the Canadian police force passed the information to the Mounted Police.

Paradoxically, at the time of his arrest, the chief financial officer of Huawei, one of the world’s leading mobile phone manufacturers, was traveling with an iPhone and an iPad tablet from rival Apple, as well as another device from the Huawei brand.

During Monday’s hearing, Yep confirmed Meng was arrested three hours after CBSA agents began questioning the Chinese leadership and that it was at this time that she was informed that the United States had requested her extradition.

Yep claimed that it was normal for CBSA agents to intercept Meng rather than the Canadian Mounted Police.

Yep also pointed out that the initial idea of ??arresting Meng on the plane carrying her from Hong Kong was rejected for security reasons as the agent feared what the Huawei leadership might do inside the device.

Subsequently, to questions from Meng’s lawyers, Yep justified her initial statement about the fear she had of arresting the Huawei management inside the plane by stating that she could have been accompanied by bodyguards.

After the five days of witness testimony is up, Meng’s prosecution and defense attorneys will again appear before the British Columbia Supreme Court in late February and early March to argue the alleged abuse of the process by Canadian authorities. EFE-EPA

jcr/lds

Related Articles

Back to top button