VANCOUVER (Reuters) – Canada has released as much information as it can legally about the arrest of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, government lawyers said on Monday as they sought more confidential documents about their 2018 detention.
PHILO PHOTO: Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou leaves her home to attend a court hearing in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on May 27, 2020. REUTERS / Jennifer Gauthier / File Photo
Meng, 48, was arrested in December 2018 at Vancouver International Airport on a U.S. warrant accusing her of bank fraud for alleged HSBC over business dealings at Huawei in Iran.
She has pleaded not guilty, and is fighting extradition to the United States while under house arrest in Vancouver.
On the first day of hearings, which is expected to last up to three days, Meng’s lawyer said a “flurry of emails” between Canadian and U.S. officials around the time of Meng’s arrest should not be handled at all. by privilege, as Canadian prosecutors have claimed.
Meng’s lawyers have called for the release of more documents to support her claim that Canadian and U.S. authorities have committed misconduct while questioning Meng before her arrest, including incorrectly sharing identifying details about her electronic devices.
Crown attorney John Gibb-Carsley said his team is committed to making the trial “as open as possible” without dividing the privileges that need to be protected. ”
However, Meng’s lawyers argued that abuse of process was an exception to legal aid.
“We see a floor of emails on the subject,” said Scott Fenton, a lawyer for Meng. “We would easily be guilty of being wrong that all of these emails are about that topic because we can not see them, so it is a matter for the closed hearing to determine what this is about.”
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have denied any wrongdoing in their conduct during Meng’s arrest.
Several of the privilege claims were upheld in a federal court in Ottawa in late July because they were made on the basis of national security.
The hearings will continue in a closed session on Tuesday, potentially extending until Wednesday. Mix will not be present.
A scheme jointly proposed by prosecutors for the prosecution and defense said a decision on the matter by Oct. 2 the rest of the trial could be allowed to proceed as planned, with hearing in April 2021.
Report by Tessa Vikander in Vancouver and Moira Warburton in Washington; Edited by Daniel Wallis and Stephen Coates
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