Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou’s Lawyers Ask Canada to Halt Extradition Case

Lawyers for Meng Wanzhou are urging Canadian authorities to drop the extradition proceedings against the Huawei executive.

According to a new post from CBC, lawyers for Meng Wanzhou have called on Canada’s minister of justice to withdraw extradition proceedings against the Huawei CFO and lays out the legal basis for him to do so in the name of “human decency” and other “Canadian values.”

They argue that the case is “palpably” political and “simply extraordinary” from legal, jurisdictional and foreign policy perspectives.

“In our view, Canada is at cross-roads respecting the United States’ request that Canada extradite Ms. Meng, for conduct that could not be an offence in Canada and which is at odds with Canadian values and established foreign policy regarding Iran,” they said.

The ministry said it “cannot confirm receipt of the letter,” adding only that Canada “respects the rule of law” and was following its extradition procedures.

Under Canadian law, the justice minister can step in to stop an extradition process, though it is unusual for Canadian lawyers to make their case so publicly. “This is not a common move,” said Leo Adler, a Toronto-based criminal lawyer with extradition expertise. “I’ve done a lot of extradition hearings that never had press releases. A case like this has political aspect as well.”

Meng, a daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in December in Vancouver at the request of the U.S. Justice Department over alleged fraud in connection with U.S. sanctions over Iran. She is out on $7.46 million bail in Vancouver, facing an extradition hearing in the Supreme Court of British Columbia scheduled to begin in January.