Huawei CFO's US extradition case begins final weeks of hearings in Canadian court

Reuters
Meng Wanzhou, 49, was arrested in December 2018 at Vancouver International Airport on a warrant from the United States.
Reuters

Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was to return to a Canadian courtroom on Wednesday for the final weeks of her US extradition hearings, as the legal proceedings running more than two years draw to a close.

Meng, 49, was arrested in December 2018 at Vancouver International Airport on a warrant from the United States, charging her with misleading HSBC Holdings PLC about Huawei's business dealings in Iran, potentially causing the bank to violate American economic sanctions.

Meng, who has said she is innocent, has been fighting her extradition case from under house arrest in Vancouver.

The upcoming hearings, expected to last until August 20, will initially focus on the third part of her lawyers' arguments, specifically that US prosecutors materially misrepresented the case against her in their extradition request to Canada.

The defense has called the US record of the case "manifestly unreliable," which Canadian prosecutors dispute.

Hearings will then move to the remedy stage, which will address Meng's allegations that abuses of process occurred during her arrest. After that, a committal hearing, to determine whether there is sufficient evidence against Meng for her to stand trial, will take place.

A decision is widely expected in the autumn. A spokesperson for Canada's Department of Justice said on Tuesday Meng will continue to be afforded a fair process in accordance with Canadian law.

Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


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