Huawei CFO's arrest at airport to be focus of Vancouver hearing

By Karen Freifeld

VANCOUVER, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Lawyers for Huawei Chief
Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou will be in a Canadian courtroom
on Monday to press for details surrounding her arrest at
Vancouver's airport nearly 10 months ago.

Meng, 47, was detained on Dec. 1 at the request of the
United States, where she is charged with bank fraud and accused
of misleading HSBC Holdings Plc about Huawei
Technologies Co Ltd's business in Iran. Meng, who is
expected in court, has said she is innocent and is fighting
extradition.

The arrest has strained China's relations with both the
United States and Canada.

At Monday's 10 a.m. (1700 GMT) hearing before Justice
Heather Holmes of the British Columbia Supreme Court, Meng's
defense team will request more disclosure surrounding her
detention at the airport, including contacts between U.S. and
Canadian authorities.

Meng's lawyers argue she was unlawfully detained, searched
and questioned for over three hours after she landed on a flight
from Hong Kong. Under the ruse of an immigration check, the
defense claims, Canadian officials delayed her arrest and
collected evidence for U.S. authorities.

Extradition proceedings against Meng should be halted if
officials abused the process, the lawyers say. Besides
accusations of misconduct related to her detention, they argue
the United States is using Meng for economic and political gain,
noting that after her arrest, U.S. President Donald Trump said
he would intervene if it would help close a trade deal.

Lawyers for Canada will respond to the demand for more
information about Meng's arrest in court, according to a
Canadian Department of Justice spokesman, who added that Meng
had already been provided with "extensive disclosure, beyond
what is required."

Canadian police and border officers, in response to a civil
claim Meng filed earlier this year, have said they acted
"lawfully and in good faith."

Vancouver lawyer Gary Botting, who has seen a video of Meng
being detained at the airport, said immigration officials came
across as "Keystone Cops."

"There are real questions about whether her rights were
violated," said Botting, who briefed Meng's defense team on
Canada's extradition law after her arrest but is no longer
involved with the case.

The extradition hearing itself is not scheduled to start
until January.

Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, spent 10
days in jail in December but was then released on C$10 million
($7.5 million) bail and is living in one of her two
multimillion-dollar homes in Vancouver. She is required to wear
an electronic ankle bracelet and pay for security guards.

Huawei, the world's largest telecommunications equipment
maker, has been accused by the United States of activities
contrary to national security or foreign policy interests.

U.S. and Chinese officials resumed trade talks last week, as
the world’s two largest economies try to negotiate a way out of
their 14-month trade war.
(Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Chris Sanders and Tom
Brown)