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By Moira Warburton
May 21 (Reuters) - A decision on a key legal aspect of the
trial over whether Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer
Meng Wanzhou can be extradited to the United States from Canada
will be announced next Wednesday, the British Columbia Supreme
Court said on Thursday.
Meng was arrested in December 2018 at Vancouver
International Airport at the request of the United States on
charges of bank fraud, and is accused of misleading HSBC
about a Huawei Technologies Co Ltd-owned
company's dealings with Iran.
Meng, 48, has said she is innocent and is fighting
extradition.
The case has strained relations between Ottawa and Beijing.
The judgment will deal with the charge of double
criminality, deciding whether Meng's actions were crimes in both
Canada and the United States at the time of her arrest.
Meng's lawyers argued that unlike the United States, Canada
did not have sanctions against Iran at the time Canadian
officials authorized the start of the extradition process,
meaning Meng's arrest did not meet the legal standard of double
criminality.
Canadian prosecutors have argued that Meng should be
extradited on fraud charges, and that contrary to her defense
argument, the case is not solely about a violation of U.S.
sanctions against Iran.
Should the judge rule that Meng's actions were not a crime
in Canada, the rest of the case "dies," said Gary Botting, a
criminal defense lawyer and extradition expert based in
Vancouver. "If the double-criminality standard falls, she gets
to go home. Not just walk but fly."
Arguments on the double-criminality charge took place in
January in Vancouver.
A court memo on Thursday said British Columbia Supreme Court
Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes would preside over an
in-person court appearance by Meng and the other parties, once
the decision is released at 11 a.m. PDT (1800 GMT) next
Wednesday.
A second phase of the trial, focusing on abuse of process
and whether Canadian officials followed the law while arresting
Meng, is set to begin in June. Closing arguments are expected in
the last week of September and the first week of October.
It could be years before a final decision is reached, since
Canada's justice system allows many decisions to be appealed.
(Reporting by Moira Warburton in Toronto; Editing by Denny
Thomas and and Peter Cooney)
