B.C. Supreme Court to rule in Huawei executive’s extradition case on Wednesday

VANCOUVER – The British Columbia Supreme Court will release a key decision next week in the extradition case of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.

The court says Justice Heather Holmes will release on Wednesday her ruling on the issue of so-called double criminality.

The legal arguments on double criminality centre on whether what Meng is accused of in the United States would be a crime in Canada.

The decision could lead to her release or it could start a new round of legal arguments, including whether her arrest at Vancouver’s airport in December 2018 was unlawful.

The United States has charged her with fraud over allegations she violated American sanctions against Iran, which she and the Chinese telecommunications giant have denied.

Her lawyers have argued the court should dismiss the case because Canada has rejected similar sanctions, while the Crown has said the judge’s role is to determine if there’s evidence of fraud.

The arrest of Meng, the daughter of Huawei’s founder, has sparked a diplomatic row between Canada and China.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2020.