Meng Wanzhou extradition hearings finally begin, with defence blasting fraud case against Huawei CFO as ‘fiction’
- The case against the Huawei executive has infuriated China, which says it is politically motivated
- Meng’s lawyers say the case fails the test of ‘double criminality’ required for extradition
The formal extradition hearings that will help decide the fate of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou got under way in Vancouver on Monday, more than a year after her arrest, in a case that has infuriated Beijing and symbolises challenges to the geopolitical order posed by China’s rise.
Meng, Huawei’s chief financial officer and daughter of founder Ren Zhengfei, appeared behind layers of bulletproof glass in the high-capacity, high-security courtroom 20 of the British Columbia Supreme Court complex.
Meng’s lawyer Richard Peck commenced what will be months of arguments by asserting that she should be released if the case against her could not support the allegations of fraud, under the extradition test of “double criminality”.
This requires that an extraditable offence be considered a crime in Canada, as well as the requesting state. Meng is accused of defrauding HSBC by misleading it about Huawei’s business dealings in Iran, potentially putting the bank in breach of US sanctions on Iran.
Canada does not have trade sanctions on Iran equivalent to the American rules Meng is alleged to have breached.
“Would we be here in the absence of US sanctions [on Iran]? … The answer is no,” said Peck. “This allegation is founded on a breach of US sanctions, sanctions Canada has repudiated.”