(Adds further details from court documents, context)
By Moira Warburton
TORONTO, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Huawei Chief Financial Officer
Meng Wanzhou's alleged actions had "no genuine connection" to
the United States, her lawyers have argued in their latest bid
to end her extradition from Canada, according to court documents
released on Friday.
Meng, 48, was arrested two years ago at the Vancouver
airport by Canadian police on an arrest warrant from the United
States, where she is charged with bank and wire fraud for
allegedly misleading HSBC about Huawei Tech Co Ltd's
business dealings in Iran.
She has claimed innocence and is fighting the extradition
while under house arrest in Vancouver. Witness testimony wrapped
up earlier this week in her case.
Her lawyers have fought to add an additional allegation of
abuse of process to the case, claiming that the United States
misrepresented Meng's actions to Canada in its request for her
extradition, and that her actions did not cause HSBC to violate
U.S. sanctions against Iran.
The United States' claim that it has jurisdiction over
Meng's actions "is based solely on non-US business transactions
between non-US corporations using non-US banks," Meng's lawyers
wrote. "None of (Meng's) alleged conduct occurred in whole or in
part in the U.S., nor did it have any effect there."
International law "does not allow a state to criminalize the
conduct of a non-national, outside that state, for
representations made to another non-national, where there is no
substantial and genuine connection to that state," they added.
Huawei lawyers also submitted seven affidavits from legal
experts - including an ex-U.S. ambassador and international law
professors in California and the Netherlands - to support their
claims.
Canadian government lawyers, who have previously argued that
the extradition request is valid, will file submissions in
coming weeks. Canada's justice department did not immediately
respond to a request for comment on Huawei's legal filings.
Meng will next be in court on Dec. 23 for a case management
conference. Her case is expected to wrap up in May 2021.
(Reporting by Moira Warburton in Toronto; Editing by Aurora
Ellis and Daniel Wallis)