Meng Wanzhou appears in court on October 27, 2020.
Meng Wanzhou, huawei‘s finance director, asked the Canadian extradition court to relax bail conditions, citing concerns about contracting the Chinese Communist Party virus, which was denied by the court on the 29th. The court rejected Meng’s request on the grounds that she was at risk of absconding.
According to Bloomberg, Meng asked the Canadian extradition court to relax the bail conditions on the 12th. B.C. Supreme Court Justice William Ehrcke denied Meng’s request on 29 May.
“The original bail order imposed conditions that were the minimum necessary to ensure that Ms. Meng would appear in court as required and would not flee the jurisdiction,” he said in handing down the decision in Vancouver.
Meng, 48, was arrested at Vancouver airport two years ago and released on bail soon after. Bail conditions include that Meng must be placed under house arrest at her Home in Vancouver, obey a curfew and not leave her home from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. She must also wear a GPS tracker (electronic shackle) on her ankle and be monitored 24 hours a day by a court-appointed private security company, with security paid for by Meng.
During the day, Meng is allowed to leave the house with security guards and her movements are restricted to an area of about 100 square miles around Vancouver.
On Jan. 12, Meng asked the judge to relax those restrictions so that she could walk around during the day without being followed by security guards, citing concerns that the rotation of security personnel could lead to infection with the Chinese Communist virus. Her husband, Liu Xiaoban, testified that Meng had thyroid cancer and High blood pressure, which would make her more dangerous if she contracted the CCP virus.
But Urk dismissed those concerns. “She has the ability to self-isolate,” the judge said. “She does not have to leave the residence.” He also said that while she must attend most extradition proceedings in person, the short drive from her home to the courthouse does not pose “an unacceptable health risk.”
Erker acknowledged that Meng has been complying with the conditions of her bail for two years. But he also noted that Doug Maynard, the chief operating officer of the security company responsible for monitoring Meng, had said in testimony that the risk of Meng deliberately violating her bail conditions was not significant, but that others could try to remove her from Canada or harm her.
On Jan. 13, Doug Maynard, who is in charge of security at Meng’s apartment, testified in BC Supreme Court that Meng had received five to six threatening letters between June and July 2020.
Maynard said the letters were sent through the mail and were clearly identifiable by their appearance, sometimes even finding bullets in the envelopes. That prompted the Chinese Communist Party to demand her immediate release, and his staff had reported being spied on, but it was not clear who was responsible.
Deutsche Welle reported that last May, Meng’s lawyers were optimistic about the situation and believed Meng would regain her freedom. Before the ruling, Meng and her colleagues felt optimistic and took a “victory” photo together on the steps of the courtroom. However, the ruling on May 27 was unfavorable to Meng, and her extradition case continues.
In addition, Canadian prosecutors said during cross-examination with Meng’s husband in court on May 12 that a Boeing 777 had been chartered by China Southern Airlines last May as Canada was preparing to make a key ruling in Meng’s case, and was ready to take her back to China if the ruling went in Meng’s favor.
The South China Morning Post reported that Canadian prosecutor John Gibb-Carsley said in court that the Boeing 777 had been chartered by the Chinese consulate and that the plane carried 360 passengers.
According to AFP, an official confirmed on Jan. 13 that Canada granted Meng’s husband and two children a travel waiver to meet her in Vancouver.
Liu Xiaoban and her two children have been granted a waiver and arrived in Ottawa in October and December 2020, according to Canadian diplomats.
Meng was arrested at Vancouver airport in 2018 for allegedly violating the U.S. export ban on Iran. The prosecution accused her of concealing the relationship between Huawei and subsidiary Skycom from HSBC, but Meng has always denied the allegations.
Following Meng’s arrest, two Canadian citizens, Kang Mingkai and Michael, were arrested by the Chinese Communist Party and have been barred from meeting with Canadian representatives since January 2020, only to resume meetings in October of that year.
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