Canada judge rejects Meng Wanzhou’s request to use employee statements as evidence in US extradition case
- The statements contradict a US claim she misled bankers about the company’s business in Iran
- She was arrested in December 2018 on a US warrant for allegedly misleading HBSC about Huawei’s business dealings in Iran
But the judge provisionally allowed parts of an expert’s report that Meng’s team requested be permitted into evidence, subject to further submissions about its relevance, the ruling showed.
Meng, 49, was arrested in December 2018 at Vancouver International Airport on a US warrant for allegedly misleading HBSC about Huawei’s business dealings in Iran and causing the bank to violate US sanctions.
She has since been fighting the case from under house arrest in Vancouver and has said she is innocent.
The evidence Meng’s team sought to add related to their claim that HSBC knew about Huawei’s businesses in Iran, and that Meng did not mislead the bank.
Two affidavits were from Huawei employees who attended the meeting where the United States alleges Meng lied about the company’s business connections in Iran.
Associate chief justice Heather Holmes of British Columbia Supreme Court said that allowing this into evidence “could do no more than invite credibility findings”.
