Meng Wanzhou: Canada border agent ‘falsified account of questioning’, defence lawyer claims in court
- Sowmith Katragadda’s notes about the questioning of the Huawei executive at Vancouver’s airport contradict those of his supervisor, lawyer Mona Duckett says in hearing
- Duckett has been trying to prove that Katragadda’s conduct was a result of police and FBI direction, and not just for border purposes
A Canadian border agent’s account of his questioning of Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou, in the hours before her arrest, was falsified and “cannot be true”, Meng’s lawyer said on Friday, highlighting discrepancies between the agent’s notes and those of his supervisor.
Canada Border Services Agency officer Sowmith Katragadda was in charge of questioning Meng at Vancouver’s airport on December 1, 2018.
He and other CBSA officers have insisted in the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Vancouver that the process was solely intended to determine Meng’s admissibility to Canada.
But Meng’s lawyer, Mona Duckett, has said Katragadda was acting as a “proxy” for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and that his questioning and the securing of Meng’s electronic devices and passcodes were part of a covert evidence-gathering exercise orchestrated by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In the Supreme Court on Friday, Duckett asked Katragadda about his notes, which say that when he had wanted to adjourn Meng’s questioning, he was instead told to ask more questions, provided to Katragadda’s supervisor by the CBSA’s national security unit.
Katragadda’s notes say he asked Meng the extra questions at 1.09pm.