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Canadian Police Officer Denies Attempting to Keep Meng Wanzhou’s Arrest Warrant Secret
A Canadian police officer involved in the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou has denied telling border officials to keep the warrant a secret to prevent Meng from obtaining legal advice until after an immigration examination and the seizure of your electronic devices. Police officer Gurvinder Dhaliwal was in charge of evidence seized by Meng’s border agents, including her two phones, iPad, Apple laptop, and a removable memory device, before she was arrested on a US warrant in the Vancouver airport on December 1, 2018. Fenton argued in a British Columbia Supreme Court hearing on Tuesday that the RCMP told the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) not to tell Meng that it would be arrested “because that might have piqued Ms. Meng’s interest in talking to a lawyer.” Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the great stories originating from China. The BSA exam, which lasted almost three hours, during which border officials asked him about Huawei’s business in Iran, confiscated his devices and obtained the passwords. “My proposal is that it’s because the RCMP asked the CBSA … to keep it low-key, to keep it a secret,” Fenton said. ” I didn’t do anything like that, “Dhaliwal replied. Haliwal testifies for the third day at the extradition hearing of Meng, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, who is accused by the United States of defrauding HSBC by lying about Huawei’s business in Iran, exposing the bank to the risk of violating sanctions against Iran. She denies the charges and is fighting US attempts to extradite her to face trial in New York. Her lawyers say Meng is the victim of a sting operation. RCMP and CBSA, orchestrated by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. Obtain evidence against you without first being informed of the court order. They hold that this violated your rights and was an abuse of process, and that As a result, she should be released. Dhaliwal agreed with Fenton that the RCMP could have “easily” arrested Meng when he got off his flight from Hong Kong, rather than after the immi exam. gration. This would have resulted in Meng having her rights read on the spot, Dhaliwal agreed, and she could have been brought up for CBSA inspection later. Constable Winston Yep, Dhaliwal’s associate who arrested Meng after the immigration exam, testified last month that there were security reasons not to arrest Meng on the gangway or on the plane. But Fenton suggested to Dhaliwal that there were no “realistic” security concerns involved in arresting Meng on the catwalk. “You have no idea how people are going to react,” Dhaliwal replied. “There was no indication that Ms. Meng was violent, for example,” Fenton said, and Meng had already undergone an airport security check before taking her flight. in Hong Kong. There was also no indication that Meng carried a weapon, Fenton added. Dhaliwal agreed. Fenton said the events at the airport involved “a series of searches conducted by the FBI.” He cited the seizure of Meng’s phones and their placement in special bags designed to prevent them from being remotely erased. Canadian MPs join the campaign to free Meng Wanzhou, citing Sinophobia. He suggested to Dhaliwal that the RCMP knew that the FBI would need the passwords for Meng’s devices, and for that reason asked the CBSA to obtain and write them down. You probably get access to phones without a password, and he denied making such a request. Then Fenton touched on the events after the arrest. According to an email read aloud in court, Dhaliwal was asked by Sergeant Ben Chang of the RCMP’s financial integrity unit on December 4, three days after Meng’s arrest, to provide the electronic serial numbers of Meng’s devices, at the request of the FBI. the court was not authorized to search Meng’s devices. But he said he did not consider his subsequent examination of Meng’s devices, during which he found their serial numbers and removed the SIM cards from the phones, to have constituted a search. Then Fenton drew on the notes from Dhaliwal’s superior, Sergeant Janice Vander Graaf. Van Der Graaf wrote on December 12 that: “Gurv reported that Ben Chang had an email and provided serials to Legat,” a reference to FBI official John Sgroi. Canadian government attorneys representing the US Say Neither Passwords nor Electronic Serial Numbers Dhaliwal said he did not recall telling Vander Graaf that Chang had provided the serial numbers to the FBI. “This is a blank space?” Fenton asked, suggesting that Dhaliwal could indeed remember “and that’s exactly what he told his sergeant.” Dhaliwal said: “I did not recall having any conversation with Sergeant Ben Chang that he had sent this information to the FBI.” Would Vander Graff write this? Asked Fenton. “I cannot vouch for Sergeant Vander Graaf. You will have to ask her sir, “said Dhaliwal.” Fair. And we will, ”Fenton said. Chang has hired an outside attorney and refuses to testify at the extradition hearing; He has retired from the RCMP and now works for a casino company in the Chinese territory of Macau. Canadian Mountie denies trying to keep Meng’s court order secret and Vander Graaf took the stand next. She told Canadian government attorney John Gibb-Carsley, who represents US interests in the case, that the night before Meng’s arrival, RCMP Inspector Peter Lea had “strongly suggested” arresting Meng in the plane. But although he relayed this suggestion to Dhaliwal, Vander Graaf said that he did not agree with it. “I had concerns, because of the tight spaces, because of the security concerns … and because of the excess of authority,” Vander Graaf said. She added: “I didn’t think there was an emergency situation that required the RCMP to just go on the plane.” She categorized her discussion with Dhaliwal on Lea’s comments as a suggestion and not a direction. Before Dhaliwal’s testimony resumed Tuesday, Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes discussed issues raised by the protracted nature of the case, ongoing for nearly two years. He is currently scheduled to have his final hearings on April 30, 2021, although appeals could drag the process out for years, but both Meng’s defense and Canadian government attorneys representing the U.S. say it is possible that more time in court is needed for the case. Holmes said he was concerned “creating a huge gap” between the witness evidence in the abuse of process argument that is now being presented and his need to evaluate the submissions on the argument next year. She asked for an aide-memoire – a presentation made by a lawyer to help a judge recall complex evidence, to be compiled, saying that “it is simply too long between now and then.” Fenton said the widespread nature of the litigation was not the fault of either party. “Certain uncertainties have arisen, through no one’s fault,” he said. Meng lives under partial house arrest in one of two houses he owns in Vancouver. Meng’s deal has enraged China. Shortly after their arrest, Beijing arrested Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor and charged them with espionage. Ottawa sees the arrests as retaliation and that both men are victims of hostage-taking. Holmes adjourned the hearing until 10 am Wednesday. More from the South China Morning Post: * A Canadian official says the United States never asked for Meng Wanzhou’s electronic passwords, but took them ‘mindlessly’ * Canada feared for the safety of a Macau-based witness refusing to testify in Meng Wanzhou’s extradition case This article Canadian police officer denies trying to keep Meng Wanzhou’s arrest warrant secret first appeared in the South China Morning Post for the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020.
