Vancouver (AFP)

Telecom giant Huawei executive whose arrest caused a serious crisis between Canada and China on Tuesday again challenged her possible extradition to the United States on the second day of a week of hearings in Vancouver , the city where she was arrested at the end of 2018.

Huawei's chief financial officer and daughter of its founder Ren Zhengfei, Meng Wanzhou, is accused by the American authorities of fraud and of having circumvented the sanctions of Washington against Iran.

Defense lawyers continued to denounce the charges on Tuesday, which they say have no basis in Canadian law.

Washington accuses Meng Wanzhou of lying to HSBC bank about the relationship between Huawei and Skycom, a subsidiary that sold telecom equipment to Iran, which exposed the bank to a possible violation of US sanctions against Tehran. The applicant has always denied these allegations.

The issue at the heart of the debates, scheduled to last until Friday, is to establish whether there is "double criminality": to be able to be extradited to the United States, Ms. Meng must be prosecuted there for an offense also punishable in Canada.

"If Canada were to accede to the request for the extradition of Mrs. Meng, that would amount to authorizing a foreign state to penalize a behavior in Canada" which is not illegal, argued Eric Gottardi, one of the lawyers of the Chinese leader .

For the prosecution, this is indeed the case with regard to fraud, and this justifies the extradition process.

For Mr. Gottardi, "the bank would not be exposed to any risk of legal liability under Canadian law", since Canada has not taken financial sanctions against Iran.

"Canada is not extraditing for conduct (...) that it has chosen not to penalize," he added.

"In law, the essential elements of fraud cannot be established," said another lawyer for Ms. Meng, Scott Fendon, demanding his release.

- "Rule of law" -

Arrested on December 1, 2018 during a stopover in Vancouver, Meng Wanzhou, 47, is on probation and lives in a luxurious residence belonging to him in the peaceful Canadian metropolis.

Ms. Meng's lawyers argued that the United States was in fact asking Canada to "enforce American sanctions", accusing the American neighbor of abusing the bilateral extradition treaty.

Days after Ms. Meng's arrest, two Canadians, ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor, were arrested by China and charged with spying.

"We are the rule of law and we intend to continue to work hard to ensure the return of the two Canadians," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on Tuesday when asked if his government was inclined to a possible exchange of prisoners.

If, during this week's hearings, Canadian justice decides that the alleged offense has no equivalent in Canada, Meng Wanzhou could be released quickly. Otherwise, the extradition process will go to a new stage and, with many possibilities of appeal, could take several more years.

© 2020 AFP