Canada: No evidence of improper acts by officials

VANCOUVER: There is no evidence Canadian border officials or police acted improperly when Huawei chief financial officer (CFO) Meng Wanzhou was detained and arrested at Vancouver ’s airport nearly 10 months ago, said the attorney-general of Canada in a filing released on Monday.

The filing was made available as Meng and her lawyers were in British Columbia Supreme Court, here, arguing for additional disclosure surrounding the arrest, including contacts between the United States and Canada.

The defence claims Meng was unlawfully searched and questioned under the ruse of an immigration check and is seeking a halt to extradition proceedings.

Meng, 47, was detained on Dec 1 at the request of the US, where she is charged with bank fraud and accused of misleading HSBC Holdings Plc about Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s business in Iran. She has said she is innocent and is fighting extradition.

The disclosure hearing is scheduled until today and to resume on Sept 30 for another five days. Meng’s extradition hearing is not scheduled to start until January.

“There is no evidence that the conduct of officials, either Canadian or foreign, has compromised the fairness of the extradition proceedings,” said Canada’s attorney-general through counsel in the filing.

The defence team had already been provided with extensive disclosure, according to the filing, including handwritten notes from police and border officers, and video footage from the airport.