Huawei CFO seeks to introduce new evidence

Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, on Tuesday sought to introduce new evidence in her extradition fight, which her defense said would "turn on its head" and "fatally" implicate US allegations if they were introduced.

Meng's defense team in the first day of a two-day hearing in British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver said documents from HSBC "demonstrate the false and misleading nature" of the US record of the case, on which the Canadian courts are being asked to rely.

If the new evidence is allowed, Meng will be able to rely on it at the committal stage of her extradition hearings set to take place in August.

Meng, 49, was arrested by Canadian authorities at the request of the US at Vancouver International Airport on Dec 1, 2018. She is accused of misrepresenting Huawei's relationship with Skycom in a PowerPoint presentation to HSBC in 2013 and putting the bank at risk of violating US sanctions against Iran, which Meng has denied.

Meng's defense team claimed HSBC is a "sophisticated institution, acting in the full knowledge of Huawei's affiliates and their corporate history".

Meng's legal team said emails and documents submitted to a Canadian court showed at least two senior HSBC leaders were aware of connections between the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei and its Iranian subsidiary, Skycom. HSBC declined to comment.

The defense is looking to use the documents to counter US charges that junior employees of the British bank knew about the true nature of the relationship between Huawei and Skycom.

"They show that Huawei's control over Skycom was not kept from senior HSBC executives; that the continuing nature of Skycom's business with Huawei in Iran was not kept from senior HSBC executives; that internal HSBC risk-assessments were made based on knowledge of the true facts; and that any reputational risks were managed with the knowledge of senior HSBC executives," a statement released by Huawei Canada said.

Pursuit of justice

"As the case enters its next phase, Huawei remains confident in Meng Wanzhou's innocence. We will continue to support Meng's pursuit of justice and freedom," the statement said.

The documents show the US argument is "so defective as to compel the courts to place no reliance on them", Mark Sandler, defense lawyer for Meng, told the court.

Responding to the defense application, Canada's attorney general argued Huawei's interpretation of the documents is "irrelevant" to the extradition process and should be reserved for a fraud trial in the US.

The defense also alleged the actions taken by the Canadian authorities violated her Canadian Charter rights at the time of her arrest by questioning her without a lawyer. Defense lawyers also said the charges against Meng at a meeting in Hong Kong outside of US criminal jurisdiction were brought in violation of international law.

Agencies contributed to this story.