MONTREAL, March 4, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Chinese telecoms giant Huawei’s chief
financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, has filed suit against Canadian authorities
for violating her constitutional rights when she was arrested in Vancouver,
her lawyers said Sunday.
As she suffered “serious breaches of her constitutional rights,” she is
“seeking damages for misfeasance in public office and false imprisonment”
when detained at Vancouver International Airport on December 1, attorneys
Howard Mickelson and Allan Doolittle said in a statement.
The 47-year-old businesswoman was changing planes in Vancouver when she
was detained at Washington’s request on suspicion of violating US sanctions
on Iran — sparking arrests of Canadians in China that were seen as
retaliatory.
Her lawyers charge impropriety in the conditions under which Meng was
interrogated for three hours by the customs officers, officially as part of a
routine inspection, before being served with her official arrest.
During those three hours, the customs officers searched her phones and
computers as well as her luggage, in violation of her rights, the lawyers
said.
The complaint was lodged Friday, the same day that Canadian justice
officially launched Meng Wanzhou’s extradition process to the United States.
The US Justice Department accuses Huawei and its chief financial officer
of circumventing US sanctions against Iran, but also, via two affiliates,
stealing trade secrets from US telecommunications group T-Mobile.
The daughter of Huawei’s founder, Meng was released on parole in mid-
December in Vancouver, where she owns two residences, on a bond deposit of
C$10 million ($6.6 million), wearing an electronic bracelet and handing over
her passports.
She is scheduled to appear before a Vancouver judge next Wednesday “to
confirm that a writ of court has been issued and to schedule a date for the
extradition hearing,” the Canadian court has explained.
The extradition procedure can take months or even years because of the
many appeal possibilities.
China is furious over the US charges against Meng, saying they are the
product of “strong political motivations” and an attempt to undermine its
flagship telecoms company.
Huawei has strenuously denied any wrongdoing.