Delaying Meng Wanzhou’s airport arrest until after border exam was not an FBI conspiracy, extradition hearing is told
- Canadian government lawyers say the three-hour delay was a reasonable decision by border officers, with no ulterior motive
- Meng’s lawyers contend the delay was to facilitate a covert criminal investigation, with the border agents acting as proxies for the FBI
Lawyer Diba Majzub told Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes of the Supreme Court of British Columbia that Meng underwent “routine procedures” of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
“It wasn’t the RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] telling the CBSA ‘would you go first and do something for us?’ It wasn’t the FBI talking to the CBSA. It was the CBSA that made that decision,” Majzub said.
The decision by the border officers that their exam should take priority over the arrest by the RCMP on December 1, 2018 – on a warrant that said Meng should be arrested “immediately” – was reasonable in the context of a port of entry, Majzub argued.
The RCMP officers tasked with arresting Meng likewise recognised they were on CBSA “turf”, Majzub said.
