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Meng Wanzhou Hearing: Canada Border Chief Warned Officer Not to Create More Logs, Should They Be Accessed Through Information Act
His superiors told a high-ranking Canadian border officer, whose team examined Meng Wanzhou prior to his arrest at Vancouver airport two years ago, not to create further records on the case, because they would be able to access them under the laws of the freedom of information. The head of passenger operations for the Canada Border Services Agency at the airport, said he was told it was “probably not a good idea because the evidence should be proven in court,” as he testified in Meng’s extradition case. in the Supreme Court of British Columbia on Wednesday. Goodman described a meeting with his supervisor John Lindy and CBSA’s regional CEO Roslyn MacVicar in late December 2018 or early January 2019. “It was in relation to creating records or additional information that may not be necessary. . There were concerns with ATIP, access to information [and privacy]Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on great stories originating from China. The meeting came after Meng’s arrest on December 1, 2018. Goodman said he wanted to create a summary of Meng’s case, as a “kind of ‘lessons learned’ document.” But MacVicar dissuaded her. He said he couldn’t remember the exact wording, but “the context was ‘well, we shouldn’t create additional records,'” Goodman said, before correcting himself to say “unnecessary, not additional” records. Will Biden fix Canada’s broken ties with China? Meng’s lawyers have described his treatment by the CBSA and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as an abuse of process and part of an undercover evidence-gathering exercise run by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Meng, who is Huawei’s CFO and daughter of the company’s founder, Ren Zhengfei, is wanted by the United States to face trial in New York. She is accused of defrauding HSBC by lying about Huawei’s business dealings with Iran, which puts the bank at risk of violating US sanctions on the Middle Eastern country. She denies the charges and lives under partial house arrest at her Vancouver mansion. Diba Majzub, a Canadian government attorney representing US interests in the case, Goodman denied there was anything wrong with what he was told at the meeting with his bosses. Canada’s border officer ‘went white’ in shock over losing Meng’s passwords “It wasn’t to hide, suppress or hide anything. There is nothing to hide, ”he said. “We are completely transparent, there is nothing harmful here. It’s just that additional information may not be necessary. ” On Tuesday, Goodman had testified that he discovered that a colleague had lost a note with the passwords to Meng’s electronic devices. The passwords were written on loose paper by the border officer. Scott Kirkland during Meng’s examination in the hours leading up to his arrest. But she ended up in the hands of the RCMP, in violation of Canadian privacy laws, when she was arrested on the US warrant.Under questioning by Meng’s attorney, Mona Duckett, Goodman said she found interactions between the CBSA. , the RCMP and the FBI. The night before Meng’s arrival was “routine,” so he hadn’t taken any notes. Duckett was incredulous. “Sorry, is it routine for the FBI to try to coordinate a team of officers with Richmond and FSCOC? Is that routine? he asked, referring to the Richmond RCMP detachment and the RCMP Federal and Serious Organized Crimes unit. The Canadian Mountie at the center of the Meng case was an elite officer in Hong Kong. Whatever the RCMP was doing was “none of my business,” Goodman responded. Inter-institutional coordination was carried out regularly and she “did not think of anything at the time.” Duckett repeatedly questioned the veracity of Goodman’s testimony. He asked if Goodman had adapted his evidence to match that of other officers, after reading about it on Twitter. “I don’t have Twitter,” Goodman said. Duckett also questioned “the alleged quality of [Goodman’s] memory, ”about phone calls in 2018, of which the officer did not take notes. Duckett asked if it was possible that Goodman was confused when she had learned various things. “It’s a fair assessment,” Goodman said. Associate Chief Judge Heather Holmes adjourned the hearing until Thursday morning. Meng’s arrest caused a collapse of China’s relations with Canada and the United States. Thursday marks the second anniversary of the arrest by China of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, whom Beijing accuses of espionage, but whose treatment is considered by the Canadian government as hostage-taking. , in retaliation for Meng’s arrest. Canadian Ambassador Dominic Barton told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that the two men were “very healthy, physically and mentally.” Reports surfaced last week that Meng had been negotiating with the US Department of Justice that would allow him to return home to China, under a deferred prosecution agreement. Such settlements generally require an admission of wrongdoing and some form of cooperation, in exchange for the charges being dropped in the future. Reported negotiations have not been addressed in court. More from the South China Morning Post: * Will Joe Biden will fix the Canada’s broken relations with China? It’s about more than Meng Wanzhou * Canadian Mountie at the center of Meng Wanzhou’s extradition storm was an elite officer in Hong Kong * Canada’s border officer ‘went white’ in surprise when he realized he had Lost passwords to Meng Wanzhou’s device, Chief testifies * Meng Wanzhou: Canadian Officer denies ‘cover-up’ and adaptation of testimony about information from Meng’s phone allegedly going to the FBI * Canadian border officer says Giving the police the passwords for Meng Wanzhou’s device was an ’embarrassing and heartbreaking’ mistake. create more logs, in case they were accessed via the information law that first appeared on the South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post, please download our mobile app. Copyright 2020.
