RCMP officer says nothing unusual in U.S. arrest request
VANCOUVER • The RCMP officer who arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou says an allegation that there was early plan for police to board her plane and arrest her immediately upon landing in Vancouver was merely a suggestion.
Const. Winston Yep said in B.C. Supreme Court Monday it was an idea shared by text message from another officer and one that Yep didn’t believe was wise because it could compromise public safety.
Instead, he agreed in a meeting with Canada Border Services Agency officials that Meng should go through customs and screening before the arrest, he said.
“It was just a suggestion that we should go on the plane,” Yep said, adding he saw the airport as the jurisdiction of Canada Border Services.
Meng is wanted on fraud charges in the United States that both she and Huawei deny. Her arrest on Dec. 1, 2018 at the behest of the U. S. has soured relations between Canada and China.
The case at B.C. Supreme Court heard its first witness Monday in hearings from which the defence team hopes to glean evidence to support its argument that Meng was subject to an abuse of process.
The defence has previously alleged in court documents that there was a “co- ordinated strategy” to have the RCMP delay the arrest so border officials could question Meng under the pretence of a routine immigration check.
The witnesses called to testify in court this week have been requested by Meng’s defence, but a lawyer for the Attorney General of Canada was the first to question Yep.
About 10 witnesses are expected to testify this week and in the week beginning Nov. 23.
Yep told the court he was in the RCMP’S foreign and domestic liaison unit when he received a request Nov. 30 from the United States via Canada’s Department of Justice to arrest Meng.
Meng was the third person he had ever arrested on an extradition request, Yep said.
When he read the record of case, Yep said he realized it was a high- profile arrest because he knew Huawei was one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world, although he had not heard of Meng.
Yep said he travelled with a colleague to Vancouver’s airport to confirm Meng was on the flight, but they did not formulate an arrest plan before returning the next day.
Yep, who received the arrest warrant, said he was aware it called for her “immediate” arrest.
“It means as soon as practical,” he said, adding officers don’t just “run in” and arrest someone because there are often public safety concerns.
Border officials told him they had some concerns about Meng’s immigration status and mentioned she owns multiple homes in Canada, he said.
Yep said they had their own process to go through before he could make the arrest.
They did not discuss the possibility that CBSA officers would execute the arrest, he said.
“It was always going to be me who was going to execute the arrest,” he said.
“I had the warrant and this was an RCMP matter.”
Yep said it’s typical for RCMP to share some information with both CBSA and foreign agencies like the FBI but sharing personal information is limited by privacy law.
He said beyond the request for Meng’s extradition, United States officials also asked that her electronics be placed in a specialized bag that prevents content from being erased remotely.
Nothing about the request struck him as unusual, he said.
“It was part of the arrest process,” Yep said.
Yep told the court that at no point did he ask the CBSA to search the electronics or obtain information from them, nor did he hear the request from any of his colleagues.
In addition to arguing that her arrest and detention were unlawful, Meng’s lawyers allege comments from U. S. President Donald Trump suggest she is being used as a bargaining chip in the relationship between China and the U.S.
Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes, who is hearing the case, is also considering whether to allow another abuse of process argument to proceed. It alleges that the U. S. misled Canadian officials in the summary of allegations it provided to them.