‘Unique’ extradition hearing for Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou as coronavirus precautions empty Vancouver courtroom
- Meng, her lawyers and opposing Canadian government counsel took part by telephone, with judge the only key party present in courtroom
- Justice Heather Holmes said there would be no ruling soon on whether the case against Meng satisfied ‘double criminality’ rules
The extradition case of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou took a surreal turn on Monday amid Covid-19 precautions in Vancouver, with a judge presiding over a hearing in which Meng, her counsel and the Canadian government’s lawyers all attended by telephone.
Among the key parties, only Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes was in the courtroom for the hearing.
It was, said government lawyer John Gibb-Carsley, “a unique case occurring in unique times, but it's important … to keep this litigation moving forward as best as possible despite the difficult circumstances”.
All four government lawyers phoned in from different locations, a transcript of the hearing suggested. It was not clear from the transcript whether Meng’s four lawyers were all in different places.
The US is seeking Meng’s extradition on bank fraud charges relating to Huawei’s business dealings in Iran in alleged breach of US sanctions. She was arrested at Vancouver’s international airport on December 1, 2018.
Holmes said on Monday that there would be no decision “in the near future” on the issue of “double criminality” – a requirement that extraditable suspects must be accused of something that would constitute a crime in Canada.