Huawei case: Canadian justice rejects a new request from Mang Wanzhou
Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou exiting Vancouver court on January 20, 2020 (illustrative image).
GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP
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A Canadian judge has rejected a request by Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, who wanted testimonies from employees of the Chinese telecoms giant to be admitted as evidence to fight his extradition to the United States.
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Lawyers for
Meng Wanzhou
, 49, believe that these affidavits could show that the HSBC bank was aware of the links between Huawei and its Skycom subsidiary which operated in Iran, contrary to what the American justice system asserts.
This evidence would help demonstrate that the prosecution case against Meng Wanzhou is "
manifestly unreliable
", according to the lawyers.
►Also read: Huawei: Trudeau refuses to intervene in the extradition process of Meng Wanzhou
The United States accuses Meng Wanzhou of lying to HSBC, during a meeting in 2013, about the links between Huawei and its subsidiary, at the risk of pushing the bank to violate American sanctions against this country without knowing it.
They want to try her for bank fraud.
In a decision released Friday evening, Justice Heather Holmes of the Supreme Court of British Columbia said the testimony requested by Meng Wanzhou's defense "
fell within the realm of a trial, not an extradition hearing.
".
Fight his extradition
These depositions would only give a new version of the facts opposing that of American justice, "
which would exceed the true scope of an extradition hearing
", according to her.
Last weekend, Huawei confirmed that Meng Wanzhou had taken legal action against HSBC in Hong Kong to obtain documents it plans to use to fight her extradition.
Last February, she lost a similar lawsuit in London.
The extradition hearings of Meng Wanzhou, who has lived under house arrest in Vancouver since his arrest in late 2018 at the request of the United States, have entered their final phase.
They are due to resume on Monday and end in mid-May in Vancouver.
(
with AFP
)
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