Hong Kong (AFP)
Chinese telecoms giant Huawei confirmed Thursday that Meng Wanzhou, a group executive threatened with extradition to the United States for bank fraud, has taken legal action against HSBC bank in Hong Kong to obtain documents.
The daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei was arrested in Vancouver in late 2018 at the behest of the United States for circumventing US sanctions against Iran.
Washington accuses Meng of lying to an HSBC bank executive in 2013 about Huawei's links to a subsidiary called Skycom that sold telecoms equipment to Iran, exposing the bank to US sanctions.
The applicant has always denied these accusations and according to her lawyers, documents can prove it.
In February, she lost a similar lawsuit.
The High Court in London denied him access to documents from the British bank HSBC supposed to help him in his defense.
The judge felt that he was unable to judge what documents from HSBC would be necessary to ensure a fair trial.
His lawyers now hope that the Hong Kong justice will rule in favor of their client.
"Meng's request to Hong Kong seeks to seek evidence under Hong Kong law to demonstrate her innocence," a Huawei spokesperson told AFP.
"Whatever the court's decision, Ms. Meng will continue to defend her rights in the Canadian proceedings," he added.
The first hearing in this case is due to take place on Friday, according to the website of the Hong Kong judicial authorities.
HSBC declined to comment on the matter.
Arrested on December 1, 2018 at the Vancouver airport, Ms. Meng has since been living on probation in one of the luxury homes she owns in this western Canadian city.
His arrest sparked a major diplomatic crisis between China and Canada.
Hearings regarding his possible extradition are scheduled to resume on March 15 in Vancouver to end in mid-May.
© 2021 AFP