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Decision on whether to delay Meng extradition coming Wednesday

Huawei Technologies CFO Meng Wanzhou has applied to the court to delay her extradition hearings to August, citing a document issued by a Hong Kong court that could be used as evidence.
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Meng Wanzhou enters BC Supreme Court building | File photo: Albert Van Santvoort

Huawei Technologies CFO Meng Wanzhou has applied to the court to delay her extradition hearings to August, citing a document issued by a Hong Kong court that could be used as evidence.

The adjournment would delay court proceedings in the Meng case by three months.

Defence lawyer Richard Peck said Huawei recently came into possession of the documents issued by Hong Kong court, which the defence argues involves the facts surrounding the relationship between Huawei, its Skycom subsidiary and HSBC bank.

The new documents have been sealed by Hong Kong court for the parties in that lawsuit only (Huawei as the plaintiff, HSBC as the defendant) and will be subject to a publication ban if admitted in the Meng extradition proceedings. None of the defence, Crown and the court has access to its content right now.

Peck reassured Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes that - while the judge had said she wanted an expedited conclusion to the hearings, perhaps by May - the new Hong Kong documents need to be assessed for admissibility in order for the court to fulfill its duties to justice.

“At no time during these proceedings have we come before the court with frivolous information,” Peck said. “... No one is asking for adjournment for adjournment’s sake.”

The U.S. is accusing Meng of fraud - which involves her allegedly making false presentations to HSBC in 2013 to assure Skycom and Huawei were separate entities, and Skycom’s operations in Iran does not mean HSBC had to cease banking relations with Huawei in order to avoid U.S. penalties for violating sanctions.

Peck also noted that the current, variant-driven third wave of the COVID pandemic in Canada is a consideration, given that a number of defence and crown counsel are based in Ontario and have to travel to B.C.  to participate in the hearings.

“A small adjournment would allow this to abate,” he said.

Crown counsel Robert Frater fires back, calling the application for such a large delay this late in the case as “incredible” and disrespectful of the court that has facilitated an orderly and expedited process up to this point.

Frater added that - since the Hong Kong document is sealed, and potions would be redacted even if the court gains access to them - there is no way that even the defence itself knows how useful the new evidence is to Meng’s case.

“There’s literally no basis for the request,” Frater said, noting the defence has to give the court concrete reasons to delay. “... They have to give you solid ground, and they have given you redacted grounds.”

Frater also charged that the new evidence would again stray into areas about U.S. fraud and sanction laws that should be reserved for Meng’s criminal trial in the United States should she be extradited. Such areas are not under the purview of extradition court, Frater said, and similar evidence have already been rejected in this case previously, he added.

The Crown furthered that it is ready to proceed with the case under the court’s health considerations - including participating remotely if needed.

The hearings are currently scheduled to resume on April 26 - next Monday. If accepted, the application would push that date to Aug. 3 with a management hearing on June 1.

Holmes announced at the end of the session Monday that she will announce her decision on the application to delay proceedings on Wednesday during a remote hearing.