Explainer | Will the Meng Wanzhou extradition saga end this week? Here’s why the stakes for key Canadian ruling are so high
- A judge in Vancouver will decide on Wednesday if the US extradition bid for the Huawei executive satisfies the requirement of ‘double criminality’
- The case could be dismissed, and Meng free to leave Canada, after 17 months of legal drama that threw China’s relations with Ottawa and Washington into turmoil
Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou stood on the steps of the British Columbia Supreme Court complex on Saturday, posing for pictures with supporters.
They included about a dozen Huawei employees and friends who have attended Meng’s court appearances since her arrest at Vancouver’s airport on December 1, 2018.
But if Meng gets her way, she will not be seeing much more of the building that served as the backdrop.
On Wednesday, judge Heather Holmes will deliver a ruling that could set free Huawei’s chief financial officer, ending her 17-month court battle.
Meng, who is currently under partial house arrest on C$10 million (US$7.2 million) bail, was arrested by Canadian police at the request of US authorities, who want her extradited to face fraud charges in New York.
The arrest triggered a major international incident, as China’s government accused Washington of using Meng as a political pawn. Two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, were promptly arrested in China on charges of espionage that were widely seen in Canada as retaliation and hostage-taking.