A B.C. judge has upheld most of Canada’s privilege claims regarding documents sought by Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou’s lawyers relating to her U.S. extradition case.
As reported by CBC News, lawyers representing Canada’s justice minister and attorney general, David Lametti, handed over some documents to Meng’s lawyers. They declined to release the rest based on solicitor-client litigation privilege. A statement from the Canadian Department of Justice said that “Canada respects the decision… and the court process that led to this decision.”
The ruling comes after Meng’s lawyers requested more documents in August relating to her December 2018 arrest in Vancouver. Requested documents included emails between Canadian and American authorities. Meng’s lawyers wanted the documents to prove their claims that her rights were violated by Canadian authorities.
Meng was originally arrested on a warrant from the U.S., which charged her with bank fraud for allegedly misleading HSBC regarding Huawei’s business dealing in Iran and causing the bank to violate U.S. sanctions.
Huawei’s lawyers were previously denied access to documents in a federal court ruling that came in August. At the time, government lawyers argued that releasing the documents would threaten national security, and a federal judge noted the requested information wasn’t relevant to Meng’s arrest.
Meng will next appear in court on October 26th as hearings regarding whether Canadian and U.S. authorities committed abuses during her arrest continue.
The extradition hearings will likely last until April 2021.
Source: CBC News
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