Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer has filed a lawsuit against Canadian border and police authorities for “violating her constitutional rights” while arresting her at a Vancouver airport at the request of the US late last year.
Her lawyers Howard Mickelson and Allan Doolittle said in a statement on Sunday that Meng, the Chinese tech giant’s CFO and daughter of its founder, suffered “serious breaches of her constitutional rights” during her arrest at the Vancouver International Airport on December 1, 2018.
Meng, the lawyers said, is “seeking damages for misfeasance in public office and false imprisonment” in the lawsuit filed with British Columbia’s Supreme Court on Friday.
Washington has accused Meng of fraud and violating anti-Iran bans. Huawei has, however, rejected any wrongdoing.
The lawsuit says Meng was interrogated by custom officials for three hours without knowing the reason behind her arrest. At the same time, the officials searched through her phone, computer and luggage in breach of Meng’s constitutional rights, it adds.
Meng’s lawyers believe the detention was “unlawful” and “arbitrary.” They are seek damages from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the federal government.
The lawsuit was lodged on the same day that Canada formally launched the process to extradite Huawei’s chief financial officer to the United States.
The extradition process, however, could take several months or even years because Meng has the option to file appeals.
Meng’s arrest sparked a row in Canada’s ties with China, which views the move as politically motivated and related to the rivalry between Washington and Beijing.
Following Meng’s detention, Beijing arrested two Canadian nationals and sentenced a third one to death over drug smuggling charges in what appeared to be a retaliatory move.
Demands Release
China has accused Canada of abetting “a political persecution” against Huawei and has demanded the release of Meng, daughter of billionaire company founder Ren Zhengfei. History shows that if Canada follows the letter of its law, Meng will likely eventually be extradited. Meanwhile, Trump has muddied the legal waters with conflicting statements on whether he might try to intervene in what’s supposed to be an independent law enforcement operation in order to boost a China trade deal.
Canada’s justice department referred requests to the border services agency, which declined to comment Sunday. On March 6, Meng is scheduled to appear in a Vancouver court, which will likely set the date for her first hearing in the extradition case.
Phone Devices
Meng was arrested in Vancouver after getting off a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong, while on her way to Mexico. The claim alleges the Chinese telecom executive was not informed promptly of the reasons for her detention, nor given an opportunity to contact a lawyer.
The officials “unlawfully opened and viewed the contents of the seized devices in violation of the plaintiff’s right to privacy” and also “performed a thorough, invasive and focused search of all of the plaintiff’s luggage,” the claim alleges. It says that officials interrogated her over two sessions.
The police officer “intentionally delayed the arrest for the purpose of allowing the unlawful” detention in Vancouver under the false pretense of a routine border check, it alleges.
The claim states that Meng’s rights under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms were violated. Meng, who remains under house arrest in Vancouver, suffered “mental distress, anxiety and loss of liberty,” it says. The claim seeks declarations that her Charter rights were infringed, various damages and costs, all unspecified.
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