The fourth branch of the Meng Wanzhou extradition case concerning "procedural abuse", that is, whether the US extradition request violates customary international law, ended on April 1 in the High Court of British Columbia, Canada, after three and a half days.
Starting in late April, the case will enter the final stage of the trial before the trial judge makes the first extradition judgment.
During the trial, Meng Wanzhou’s defense lawyer stated that the United States’ request for extradition against Meng violated international law.
In the allegations made by the United States regarding Meng's conduct in Hong Kong and HSBC, the location of the incident, the bank involved, and Meng Wanzhou, a Chinese citizen, have nothing to do with the United States.
According to customary international law, the United States has no extraterritorial power over this.
If Bangladesh is extradited to the United States, Canada will violate international law and undermine the rule of law in Canada.
The prosecution believes that this case involves the use of the US system for US dollar clearing, and therefore the US has jurisdiction over the incident.
The defense believes that the link between the US dollar clearing and the United States cannot be the basis of US jurisdiction, and the US accusation of Bangladesh’s actions in Hong Kong is equivalent to “nearly unlimited US jurisdiction”.
If all US dollar settlement transactions are governed by the long arm of the United States, it would be "very absurd".
The defense lawyer believes that the US illegally filed a request for extradition and allowed Canada to detain Meng. This procedure continues to abuse.
The remedy is to suspend the extradition procedure.
Judges can also take the form of habeas corpus for judicial relief.
The prosecution tried to prove to the court that Meng Wanzhou’s actions accused by the United States had close and true ties to the United States.
Prior to this, the prosecution and the defense have been conducting court debates around the first branch of the "procedural abuse" issue, that is, the issue of political motivation, and the second branch, the issue of suspected illegal detention, since the beginning of March.
After the fourth branch of the court, the court temporarily adjourned.
According to the current schedule, from April 26 to May 14, the court will discuss the third branch, that is, whether there are major omissions and misstatements in the case materials provided by the US, and the cumulative remedies for procedural abuse, etc., and close the prosecution and defense Statement, waiting for the judge to make a decision on whether to extradite Meng Wanzhou to the United States.
(Produced by Lu Huiqian)
Editor in charge: [Ji Xiang]