By Moira Warburton
Aug 14 (Reuters) - Evidence used by the United States to
justify the extradition of Huawei Technologies Chief Financial
Officer Meng Wanzhou is "unreliable and defective" and should
not be considered by a Canadian court, Meng's lawyers argued in
documents released to the media on Friday.
Meng, 48, was arrested in December 2018 on a warrant from
the United States which alleges that she misled the bank HSBC
about Huawei's business dealings in Iran.
She has said she is innocent and is fighting extradition
while on house arrest in Vancouver.
Meng's lawyers submitted testimony from expert witnesses
including John Bellinger, a former White House lawyer, as well
as a Huawei Technologies Co Ltd presentation outlining its
relationship with businesses operating in Iran, to back Huawei's
argument that the United States left out key facts about
communication with HSBC about Huawei's operations in Iran when
requesting Meng's extradition from Canada.
The submissions show that the evidence used by the United
States as part of their case is "manifestly unreliable – so
unreliable and defective – to justify refusing to commit (Meng)
for extradition," lawyers for Huawei wrote.
The issue is scheduled to be argued in a British Columbia
courtroom in September as part of Meng's extradition hearing.
The entire extradition hearing is expected to run till April
2021.
On Monday, Meng will attend hearings in a Canadian courtroom
via telephone, arguing for the Canadian attorney general to
release more confidential documents relating to her arrest to
show that her rights were abused. The Canadian attorney general
has held back some of the documents related to her arrest
claiming privilege.
Meng's legal team argue that her extradition proceedings
should be stayed as a result of the abuses.
(Reporting by Moira Warburon; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
HSBC Holdings (HSBA)
