Huawei CFO Loses Bid to End Extradition Procedure

Huawei CFO Loses Bid to End Extradition Procedure

• 来源:网络
• 更新日期:2020-05-28

摘要：BEIJING, May 28 ( TMTPost ) China-based tech giant Huawei ’ s Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou will continue to face an extradition possibility after a cou

BEIJING, May 28 ( TMTPost ) China-based tech giant Huawei ’ s Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou will continue to face an extradition possibility after a court ruling said on Wednesday that the fraud the U.S. Justice Department charged her with would also be a crime in Canada.

Meng has been stranded in Canada for over a year since she was detained in December 2018 by Canadian authorities at the request of the U.S. government upon her landing in Vancouver supposedly for changing flights from Hong Kong to South America.

In a 23-page ruling released Wednesday, Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes said the offence prosecutors in a New York court accused her of committing would be considered a crime in Canada, implying that the condition of dual criminality for an extradition in accordance with Canadian laws is met.

Holmes said that the essence of Meng ’ s alleged crime is fraud, not the violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran, which does not constitute a crime in Canada since Canada did not participate in the unilateral sanctions imposed by the U.S. government on the Middle East country.

Canada ’ s law of fraud looks beyond international boundaries, Holmes wrote in her decision. Ms. Meng ’ s approach to the double criminality analysis would seriously limit Canada ’ s ability to fulfill its international obligations in the extradition context for fraud and other economic crimes.

She added that while the U.S. sanctions against Iran were not part of Canadian law, those sanctions were not fundamentally contrary to Canadian values in the way that slavery laws would be.

Meng was accused of lying to HSBC in Hong Kong about Huawei ’ s relationship with a company that sold HP computers to Iran, which violated the U.S. sanctions.

Prosecutors alleged that Meng ’ s false statements put banks at risks of breaking U.S. laws and subsequent economic losses by providing financial services to Huawei.

However, Holmes ’ ruling does not necessarily mean that Meng will be extradited to the United States although it came apparently as a major setback to her. A few days ago, Meng and her friends and colleagues posed for a group photo on the steps of the court building, all flashing Victory or thumbs-up hand signs. One major Chinese news outlet even reported falsely that Meng walked free from the court when the court ruling was not released.

What ’ s Next?

Although the ruling did not set Meng free on Wednesday, Holmes said that it would ultimately be the job of Canadian Justice Minister David Lametti to decide whether surrendering Meng to the U.S. government would be unjust or oppressive.

In accordance with Canadian laws, after a court decides to extradite an individual to a foreign country, the minister of justice has the power to reverse the decision.

Meng has denied all accusations against her. Her lawyers have argued that her human rights were violated when she was detained in the Vancouver International Airport.

Meng ’ s extradition case has strained Canada ’ s relations with China. In fewer than two weeks of Meng ’ s detention, China arrested two Canadians on suspicion of national security risks, who remain in custody. China also suspended importing several agricultural products from Canada, another move described by observers as tit-for-tat retaliatory.

In recent weeks, Chinese diplomats have urged the Canadian government to release Meng, warning that failure to do so would harm bilateral relations.

One day before the release of the ruling, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada did not need to apologize for decisions made by the independent Canadian justice system. He argued that there is no political interference in Canada ’ s court system.

更多精彩内容，关注钛媒体微信号（ID：taimeiti），或者下载钛媒体 App