BC judge orders return of items seized during Meng Wanzhou’s arrest in 2018

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The court document lists a MacBook laptop, an iPad, a USB stick, an iPhone, a Huawei phone, SIM cards, and a Chinese passport.

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Huawei Technologies CFO Meng Wanzhou speaks to the media outside the BC Supreme Court following a hearing on his release in Vancouver on September 24, 2021.
Huawei Technologies CFO Meng Wanzhou speaks to the media outside the BC Supreme Court following a hearing on his release in Vancouver on September 24, 2021. Photo by JESSE WINTER. /REUTERS

A British Columbia Supreme Court judge ordered the return of the items seized from Meng Wanzhou during the arrest of the Huawei executive at Vancouver airport due to an extradition request from the United States.

An order dated October 21 and signed by Associate Chief Judge Heather Holmes says that items taken by the RCMP during their December 1, 2018 arrest must be returned.

The court document released to the media includes a MacBook laptop, an iPad, a USB stick, an iPhone, a Huawei phone, SIM cards and a Chinese passport.

The order also orders the RCMP to destroy a handwritten note containing access codes to Meng’s phones, as well as photos of the note and the serial numbers of his device.

US authorities accused Meng of lying to HSBC about Huawei’s control over a subsidiary, putting the bank at risk of violating US sanctions against Iran.

Meng pleaded not guilty in a US court In September after reaching a deferred prosecution agreement, the extradition request was withdrawn and he returned to China immediately.

The court heard during the extradition hearing in Vancouver that Meng’s phone passwords were improperly shared with the RCMP by an agent from the Canada Border Services Agency, part of an argument by Meng’s attorneys that she was subjected to an abuse of process and the extradition request must be dismissed.

Attorneys for the attorney general of Canada disagreed, arguing that there was no misconduct in the extradition case that would have justified a stay of the proceedings.

Holmes had reserved his decision on Meng’s extradition in August, about a month before Meng reached an agreement that would allow the charges against him to be dropped after December 1, 2022, provided he meets certain obligations. .

Two Canadians detained in China shortly after Meng’s arrest, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, returned to Canada just as she was returning to China.

Reference-vancouversun.com

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