Extradition hearing for Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou set for early next year

Martin says a quick hearing would be in the public and national interest.

Meng, who wasn’t in the court as lawyers set dates, was arrested in December at Vancouver’s airport at the request of the United States, which is seeking her extradition on fraud charges.

Both Meng and Huawei have denied any wrongdoing.

Meng’s defence team have alleged she was the victim of two “abuses of power,” first by Canadian authorities and then by U.S. President Donald Trump.

They told the court they intend to make an argument based on “double criminality,” related to different sanction and fraud laws in the U.S. and Canada.

The Extradition Act says a suspect can be extradited to stand trial in another country only if similar laws that the person is accused of exist in Canada, or double criminality.

Martin asked that they be allowed to argue that issue first through a separate application, but Crown prosecutor John Gibb-Carsley argued that the argument should be part of the broader extradition hearing.

“The entire purpose of a committal hearing is to address the sufficiency of double criminality,” said Gibb-Carsley, who represents the Attorney General of Canada.

Isolating the arguments about double criminality would be a waste of court resources and breaks from case law, he said.

Justice Heather Holmes challenged the idea.

“If (the defence’s argument) doesn’t succeed, we go on to the other issues. If it does succeed, that’s the end of the committal,” she said.

The U.S. Department of Justice has laid charges of conspiracy, fraud and obstruction against Huawei and Meng, who is the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei.

Meng has been free on bail and is living in one of her two multimillion-dollar homes in Vancouver while wearing an electronic tracking device and being monitored by a security company.

Amy Smart, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Extradition hearing for Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou set for early next year

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