Huawei Extradition Case: Next hearing on Wednesday for CFO accused of fraud
Updated 22:30, 11-May-2019
[]
02:22
Chinese tech executive Meng Wanzhou is scheduled to return to a Canadian court on Wednesday to fight against extradition to the US. CGTN's correspondent Hendrik Sybrandy has the details from Vancouver.
HENDRIK SYBRANDY VANCOUVER "Meng Wanzhou is due here at British Columbia Supreme Court Wednesday morning for another hearing related to her ongoing extradition case. She and her lawyers are fighting extradition, trying to stop Canada from sending her to the United States, where she's charged with fraud and conspiring to violate sanctions on Iran."
Just as with a hearing back in March, Wednesday's hearing is expected to be administrative in nature. According to the court, future hearing dates will be set, there may be some minor bail amendments that will be taken up. Meng currently wears an ankle monitor to keep track of her whereabouts and is confined to the Vancouver area. She and her husband own two homes here. The Crown, or the attorney general, could provide the government's official record of the case. The main focus is expected to be on what are called pre-hearing applications, which are points the defense, in this case attorney David Martin, plans to raise during an extradition hearing, their main grounds for arguing that Meng's arrest was improper and unlawful. Extradition lawyer Gary Botting, who is not involved with this case, believes there are a number of troubling issues.
GARY BOTTING EXTRADITION LAWYER "David has a chance to make it very clear that we're ultimately going to be looking at very political issues here, we're going to be looking at abuse of process here, we're going to be looking at the way this has impacted on this hearing, and that's relevant to the judge, and we're going to be seeing how search and seizure matters have been violated."
HENDRIK SYBRANDY VANCOUVER "Botting says America's political motivations will be a central part of the defense. And whether the U.S. even had jurisdiction to request Meng's arrest. Botting says the Crown has a pretty low bar to clear to justify extradition in a case like this. He says Canada's Extradition Act gives a lot of weight to the state. So her lawyers have their work cut out for them. The Court says the appearance may be as brief as half an hour. We'll be here to report on what happens. Hendrik Sybrandy, CGTN, Vancouver."