(Adds details from proceedings)
By Moira Warburton
Oct 28 (Reuters) - A lawyer for Huawei Chief Financial
Officer Meng Wanzhou on Wednesday questioned the Canadian
constable involved in her 2018 arrest, asking if the process was
delayed in an initial bid to suppress her legal rights.
Defence attorney Richard Peck wrapped up two days of
cross-examination of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
Constable Winston Yep, needling him on the intentions behind
Meng's initial detainment by Canada Border Services Agency
(CBSA) officials and then her arrest by the RCMP.
Peck alleged that the order of events was to take advantage
of the extended leeway CBSA officers have in questioning and
investigating individuals crossing into Canada.
The decision to "delay in the arrest of Ms Meng" was "based
on delaying her Charter rights," Peck said, referring to
Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms which outline the civil
rights of anyone in Canada, citizen or otherwise.
"No, that was not intentional," Yep replied, adding that he
did not believe the three hour delay between Meng's detention by
CBSA officers and her arrest by RCMP officers was
"unreasonable."
Court documents show Meng was questioned by CBSA for nearly
three hours without any legal representation, in what her
lawyers have called a violation of her rights before the RCMP
arrested her.
From the moment Meng was detained by CBSA, "she was
effectively in the joint custody of you and the CBSA," Peck said
to Yep.
"No, she was in the custody of the CBSA," Yep said. "I don’t
agree with that."
Meng, 48, was arrested at Vancouver International Airport in
December 2018 while on a layover bound for Mexico. The United
States charged her with bank fraud for allegedly misleading HSBC
about Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.'s business
dealings in Iran, causing the bank to break U.S. sanctions.
She has said she is innocent and is fighting the charges
from Vancouver, where she is under house arrest in her home in
Shaughnessy, one of Vancouver's wealthiest neighbourhoods.
Meng's arrest triggered an ongoing chill in diplomatic
relations between Ottawa and Beijing. Soon after her detention,
China arrested Canadian citizens Michael Spavor and Michael
Kovrig on espionage charges.
The witness testimony, expected to last five days in total,
is focusing on the second of three branches of abuses of process
that Meng's lawyers claim took place, specifically during her
arrest.
Meng's case is scheduled to wrap up in April 2021, although
the potential for appeals mean the case could drag on for years.
(Reporting by Moira Warburton in Toronto; Editing by Denny
Thomas and Tom Brown)
HSBC Holdings (HSBA)