Meng Wanzhou (pictured) is appearing in a court in Vancouver fighting extradition to the US, where she is accused of bank fraud: she and Huawei deny them all.
Her defence lawyer, Tony Paisana, told the court, according to local media, that extraditing Meng to the US would “manifest, perpetuate and aggravate the misconduct”.
The hearing started lasst week and is expected to continue until the end of next week.
At the same hearing his colleague Richard Peck told the judge, Heather Holmes, that former US president Donald Trump “wanted a ransom” for Meng’s freedom, something that was “antithetical to Canadian values”.
He said she had been used as a “bargaining chip” and that what he called “the abuse of process” the CFO had suffered “was so severe the proceedings should be halted” and that she should be released.
Paisana said: “The conduct ranged from that of front-line US attorneys drafting court documents and officers tasked with arresting Ms Meng in conformance with the law, all the way to the president of the United States.”
He said: “Where misconduct is found across nations and agencies laterally and also vertically up and down the hierarchy of those organisations, we say that must aggravate the abuse. The breadth and height of abuse in this case is one of the more rare aspects of this matter.”
He noted that the Vancouver court is unable to consider a reduced sentence – and that would be up to a US court if Meng is extradited for trial there – and that the only alternative is to stop the proceedings altogether.
