Following the latest hearing regarding the Meng Wanzhou extradition case, a Huawei executive issued a statement, highlighting that "the allegations against Ms Meng do not constitute a crime", and that "the extradition request violates a core principle of Canadian extradition law", Benjamin Howes, Vice President of Media Affairs at Huawei stated, cited by the Canada News Wire.
"According to Canadian law, no one should be extradited to face punishment in another country for conduct that is not criminal in Canada. The US allegations against Ms Meng are based on violations of unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States on financial services in Iran. Canada hasn't imposed any such sanctions. Therefore, transactions conducted with the bank do not pose any risk of breaking Canadian law, and would not result in any risk to the economic interests of the bank in question. As a result, the alleged conduct of Ms. Meng is not criminal in Canada and she should be released immediately. Ms. Meng's lawyers will bring a motion in January 2020, challenging the United States' request to extradite her on claims of fraud", Howes said.
Howes stressed that the alleged evidence submitted by the US is "insufficient and the allegations against Ms Meng are baseless", adding that "there is no evidence that Ms Meng misled any financial institutions at any time".
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Meng, the daughter of Huawei's founder, was arrested by Canadian authorities last December at the request of United States, reportedly on suspicions of failing to comply with US sanctions against Iran. Beijing decried the arrest and demanded that Canada immediately release the Chinese national.
The United States and some other countries have accused the Chinese company of stealing commercial information. Washington says it suspects Huawei of working for the Chinese government, a US rival and party to a major trade dispute.
Huawei has dismissed claims about cooperating with the Chinese authorities and has pleaded "not guilty" to charges of stealing trade secrets.
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