US misled Canadian court about its case against Meng Wanzhou so badly she must be freed, say her lawyers

Huawei CFO Meng returned to the BC Supreme Court for her extradition case for the first time since May

The hearing got off to a chaotic start with the judge forced to halt proceedings because of repeated audio interruptions on a media phone line

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Meng Wanzhou leaves her Vancouver home on Monday on her way to the BC Supreme Court. Photo: Agence France-Presse

Published: 2:31am, 29 Sep 2020Updated: 5:53am, 25 Dec 2021

Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou returned to court in Vancouver on Monday, with her lawyers claiming that the American bid to have her extradited on fraud charges should be thrown out because US authorities misled the Canadian court about their case against her.

The hearing got off to a chaotic start as Madam Justice Heather Holmes halted proceedings because of repeated audio interruptions on a media phone line. The phone line was set up to listen in on the proceedings because Covid-19 precautions have limited the number of seats available in the public gallery.

The proceedings resumed after 10 minutes, but Meng’s lawyer Scott Fenton had to repeat his opening remarks.

Meng’s lawyers said in a submission that US authorities’ record of the case (ROC) had omitted key details about a PowerPoint presentation that Meng delivered to a HSBC banker in Hong Kong in 2013 about Huawei’s business dealings in Iran.

A news cameraman films Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou as she enters the British Columbia Supreme Court on Monday. Photo: Agence France-Presse

Fenton told the court there was “fundamental unreliability and inaccuracy” in the US record of the case. The US had failed in its “duty of candour”, he added.