Lawyers for both the RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency claim that agents have never examined or searched electronic devices belonging to Huawei’s CFO, Meng Wanzhou.
According to a new report from CBC, both agencies filed a response in B.C.’s Supreme Court on Monday to Meng’s civil suit claiming her rights were violated upon detention at the Vancouver International Airport on December 1, 2018.
The documents apparently name two border officers who searched Meng’s luggage and confiscated her phones. The officers claim that while they did write down Meng’s phone numbers and passwords, they didn’t search the contents of said devices.
“The RCMP did not receive any information that the CBSA obtained in the course of the immigration and customs examinations of the plaintiff other than the piece of paper containing the phone numbers and passwords for the phones,” the response to the civil claim reads.
“At no time has any RCMP officer examined the contents of the electronic devices or the phones.”
Meng, on the other hand, claims that the two agencies colluded with American officials to have her detained for three hours while examining her phones without informing her why she was being detained, all before officially placing her under arrest.
“Meng’s legal team are set to make a brief appearance in B.C. Supreme Court this Thursday in preparation for a longer set of procedures in September aimed at arguing for more disclosure around her detention and arrest,” reads the report.
Her lawyers have indicated that they plan to ask a judge to dismiss the entire proceedings as a result of alleged breaches of her rights,” the report continues. “They also plan to argue that she is the victim of political interference by U.S. President Donald Trump.”
Meng was arrested in Vancouver, British Columbia, on December 1 on U.S. fraud charges related to U.S. sanctions law. Not long after, Chinese authorities detained two Canadian men on security charges, widely seen as retribution for Canada’s arrest of Meng.
Meng is Huawei’s chief financial officer and the daughter of its founder, Ren Zhengfei. Huawei has close ties to China’s military and is considered one of the country’s most successful international enterprises, operating in the high-tech sphere where China hopes to establish dominance.
