Meng Wanzhou, the Chief financial officer of Chinese telecom giant Huawei is seeking to have her case thrown out. She is at the centre of high-profile international extradition.
On Wednesday, her lawyers told the BC Supreme Court in Vancouver that she is the subject of an abuse of process by border officials, RCMP, the FBI and the government of Canada.
Noticeably, Meng Wanzhou was arrested at Vancouver International Airport on Dec. 1 at the request of US authorities.
She allegedly misinterpreted Huawei’s ownership and control of Skycom. Thus she violated US trade sanctions against Iran.
Benjamin Howes, Huawei Canada’s vice-president of media affairs said Meng had not actually broken sanctions against Iran. She had been clear and above board about Huawei’s relationship with Skycom.
Howes said, “The RCMP intentionally delayed the presentation of the arrest warrant in order to carry out the unlawful detention and search against Ms Meng. This was done under the pretence of a routine border check.”
Further, the legal team of Meng will also argue the sanctions on financial services she is accused of violating are not imposed in Canada. It means the case does not meet the “double criminality” requirement of Canada’s extradition agreement with the US and is therefore not lawful.
Also Read: US-China Trade War – Trump Accused China Of breaking the deal.
Also, Meng’s lawyer Scott Fenton argued Trump’s comments over the case prove it as politically motivated.
The US and China are trying their best to keep the case of Meng Wanzhou separate from their trade dispute. However, Trump considers intervening in the case to forge out a trade deal with China.
Particularly, Fenton called Trump’s comments “intimidating and corrosive of the rule of law.”
On Wednesday, Court granted Meng Wanzhou the right to move to her home in Vancouver’s posh Shaughnessy neighbourhood.
She has been living at her another multimillion-dollar Vancouver home on a $10-million bail. In addition, she is also under 24-hour surveillance by both electronic monitoring and private security company.
In spite of fighting her extradition, she also launched a lawsuit against the federal government, the Canada Border Services Agency and RCMP.
She claims Canada violated her constitutional rights. She stated officers detained and questioned her for three hours at Vancouver International Airport. They did so before informing her about her arrest.
The US is now putting pressure on its British ally to stop the Chinese telecom from establishing a 5G network in the UK.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo invoked the politics of Margaret Thatcher.
He said, “Ask yourself this: Would the Iron Lady be silent when China violates the sovereignty of nations through corruption and coercion?”
“Would she allow China to control the internet of the future?”
The British government would only say that there is no final decision on the matter. Furthermore, China blocked the import of Canadian pork and canola. It increased the trade issues between the two countries.
Moreover, Canada is already facing Beijing’s wrath. The UK doesn’t want to indulge in all these issues.
China detained two Canadians ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor in accordance with Meng’s arrest as retaliation act.
