Extension of Meng’s case to ‘ buy time’ for legal team to prepare for proceedings
Following the latest decision by the Canadian court to delay the ongoing legal proceedings of Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou until August to allow judges to review new documents obtained from HSBC, some legal experts and observers raised the question on Thursday about whether this signals “a big victory” in this marathon lawsuit and if it will become a major turning point in the legal fight against extradition to the US.
Reuters reported on Thursday that a Canadian judge has agreed to delay Meng’s extradition hearings for three months, citing a ruling read in court on Wednesday, handing the Chinese senior executive’s defense team “a win.”
A source close to the matter confirmed with the Global Times on Thursday that the court agreed to delay the hearings until August 3, and the reasons for the extension will be read out on April 28 at a case management conference to talk about the upcoming schedule for the proceedings.
The result was also considered a hard- won one, according to people familiar with the matter, as the judge agreed to include more new evidence from HSBC, a major focus of the legal battle in deciding whether Meng had committed fraud in misleading the bank about the Chinese company’s business dealings with Iran in leading the bank to violate US sanctions on Iran, a major argument the US put to the Canadian authorities in arresting her in December 2018.
The progress was made after Huawei and HSBC reached an agreement in a Hong Kong court recently over the relevant documents for legal proceedings in Meng’s case.
“If the evidence shows that HSBC had known about the relationship between Huawei and SkyCom, then there is no fraud, the sole legal basis for the extradition request,” Yue Dongxiao, a USbased lawyer who is closely observing the lawsuit, told the Global Times on Thursday.
However, some insiders who are familiar with the matter said it is still too early to call it a big win for Meng, as the judge needs to see what the new evidence is and how strongly it supports her arguments.
Nonetheless, the latest decision “bought her defense team much more time” to prepare for the legal proceedings, according to the anonymous insiders.