Huawei CFO sues Canada

An executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei is suing the Canadian Government, its border agency and the police force, saying they detained, searched and interrogated her before telling her she was under arrest.

Lawyers for Meng Wanzhou said they filed a notice of civil claim in the British Columbia Supreme Court. Canada arrested Meng, the daughter of Huawei’s founder and the company’s chief financial officer, at the request of the United States on December 1 at Vancouver’s airport. She is wanted on fraud charges that she misled banks about the company’s business dealings in Iran.

The suit alleges that instead of immediately arresting her, authorities interrogated Meng “under the guise of a routine customs” examination and used the opportunity to “compel her to provide evidence and information”. The suit alleges Canada Border Service Agency agents seized her electronic devices, obtained passwords and unlawfully viewed the contents and intentionally failed to advise her of the true reasons for her detention. The suit said only after three hours was she told she was under arrest and had right to counsel.

“This case concerns a deliberate and pre-meditated effort on the part of the defendant officers to obtain evidence and information from the plaintiff in a manner which they knew constituted serious violations of the plaintiff’s rights,” the claim says.

Meng is out on bail and living in Vancouver. On Friday, Canadian Justice Department officials gave the goahead for her extradition proceedings to begin. Meng is due in court on Thursday to set a date for the proceedings to start. It could be several months or even years before her case is resolved.