Huawei case: leader Meng Wanzhou released by Canadian justice

Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou exiting Supreme Court in Vancouver, British Columbia, September 24, 2021. AP - DARRYL DYCK

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

A Vancouver judge released Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou and closed the extradition process on Friday, September 24.

The daughter of the founder of the Chinese telecoms giant was arrested at the end of 2018 and was living on probation in Canada, while the United States wanted to try her in particular for " 

bank fraud

 ".

After a Washington-Huawei agreement, Meng Wanzhou can now return to China.

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This is the end, for Meng Wanzhou, of a much longer-than-expected stopover in Canada. On December 1, 2018, Huawei's chief financial officer was

arrested at Vancouver airport

, at the request of US authorities. She is accused of lying to circumvent US sanctions against Iran, " 

conspiracy

 " and " 

bank fraud

 ". His arrest marks one more step in the tensions between the United States and China, symbolized in particular by the

American distrust of the giant Huawei

.

Since then, Canadian justice has repeatedly refused

requests for the release

of Meng Wanzhou, despite warnings from Beijing to Ottawa. But the situation was unblocked this Friday, September 24, when an agreement was reached between the United States and China. A New York court confirmed the agreement between the American authorities and Huawei: Meng Wanzhou would regain his freedom while the proceedings against them would be "postponed" until December 1, 2022.

At the end of a short hearing before the Supreme Court of British Columbia on Friday, in the presence of the financial director, Justice Heather Holmes " 

signed the release order

 ".

Meng Wanzhou can now return to China.

She held a quick press briefing after the hearing and took the opportunity to thank the judge and all her supporters: “ 

Over the past three years, my life has been turned upside down.

It was a troubling time as a mother, wife and business executive.

 "

(With AFP)

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