Canadian prosecutor’s office defended extradition to US of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou

The Canadian prosecutor’s office on Wednesday defended the extradition to the United States of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei, and said his actions when meeting with HSBC bank executives in 2013 were “dishonest.”

As stated by Counsel Robert Frater, on behalf of the Attorney General of Canada, to Justice Heather Holmes of the Supreme Court of British Columbia (Canada), The evidence that Meng was “dishonest” is “clear” despite claims by the legal team of Huawei’s chief financial officer.

Frater también recordó a la jueza Holmes that para proceed to the extradición of Meng to Estados Unidos, que la acusa de fraud bancario para evadir las sanciones impuestas por Washington contra Irán, solo es necesario probar que hay suficiente evidencia para que la acusada pudiera ser juzgada in Canada.

The United States noted that at a meeting held in 2013, Meng provided HSBC executives in Hong Kong with a PowerPoint presentation containing misleading information about Huawei’s relationship with Skycom, a company with operations in Iran, it would therefore have undertaken bank fraud.

In contrast, in early August, Meng’s attorneys argued to Holmes that the United States had taken advantage of the Canadian justice system and that Washington had failed to provide Canada with specific information about his client and his conversations with officials. HSBC bank.

However, Frater insisted that Meng’s goal was to persuade HSBC that there was no risk to the financial institution because Huawei was complying with US sanctions against Iran and therefore he was “dishonest. “.

Frater is expected to conclude his arguments on Thursday while lawyers for Meng, 49, respond to the prosecution from Friday. Hearings in the case are scheduled to end on August 20 and Holmes will deliver his verdict in the fall.

The case began on December 1, 2018, when Canada detained Meng at Washington’s request during a stopover in Vancouver by Huawei’s chief financial officer and daughter of the company founder, en route to Mexico.

Immediately after Meng’s arrest, China detained two Canadian citizens, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, and charged them with espionage.

Just yesterday a Chinese court sentenced Spavor to 11 years in prison. Kovrig’s conviction should be known in the coming weeks.

The arrests of Meng, Kovrig and Spavor sparked a serious diplomatic conflict between Canada and China, with mutual accusations of violations of human rights and international law.

(With information from EFE)

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