A Canadian court held another hearing Tuesday in the extradition case of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, with Canadian Customs officials testifying for the first time in court, denying that Customs was instructed by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to arrest Meng Wanzhou or that Meng’s rights were violated in the course of the investigation.
A Canadian Customs official testified Tuesday at the trial of Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou’s extradition, claiming he was not instructed by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to participate in the investigation into Meng’s 2018 pre-arrest arrest.
Meng’s legal team argued that there was no legal basis for the U.S. extradition request, denounced the irregular collaboration between U.S. and Canadian authorities prior to Meng’s arrest at Vancouver International Airport under a warrant issued by the U.S., and stressed that Meng’s rights were violated when she was forced to obtain a computerized personal identification number (PIN) by staff at the airport prior to her official arrest and was questioned for three hours without a lawyer.
In response, Canadian customs officer Sanjit Dhillon testified Tuesday during cross-examination at the British Columbia Superior Court trial that he was aware that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had asked Canadian authorities to collect information about Meng Wanzhou because he was the supervisor on duty that day, but that he did not remember the details of the emails and did not act on them.
In response to a question about whether Meng Wanzhou’s rights had been violated during the questioning, the customs official replied that Meng Wanzhou had not been forced to hand over her personal computer or cell phone passwords, and that the questioning was a normal procedure that did not require the presence of a lawyer.
On the eve of the hearing, Meng’s legal team claimed that a retired Canadian police officer confirmed that he had repeatedly handed over confidential information about Meng to the FBI, but that the officer refused to testify.
Meng’s extradition hearing is scheduled to last another six months, and the Canadian court should rule in April 2021, although the case could drag on for years if there is an appeal.
Tensions between China and Canada flared after Meng’s arrest at a Canadian airport in December 2018, and two Canadians were subsequently arrested and detained by Chinese authorities on charges of espionage; Chinese officials have yet to clarify the specific charges against either of them.
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