A key deadline in the case of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou comes as the U.S. government breaks record for longest shutdown.
According to a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) report on January 19, local time, at the end of this month, the U.S. authorities will meet the deadline to formally request Meng Wanzhou’s extradition from Canada to the United States.
The Canadian Ministry of Justice disclosed for the first time that the United States has not yet submitted the documents required for the Meng Wanzhou case, and reminded the United States that this step must be completed by January 30.Lawyers familiar with the extradition case said Meng could eventually be released if the U.S. missed the deadline.
After being released on bail, Meng Wanzhou went out accompanied by security. The picture is from Dongfang IC
CNBC in the United States stated in a report updated on the 15th that it is still unclear whether the U.S. Department of Justice will advance the extradition matter, and it is also unclear whether Canada intends to end the case in Canada.
On December 1 last year, Canada arrested Huawei Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Meng Wanzhou at the request of the United States and granted her bail on the 11th of the same month.The United States accuses it of misleading multinational banks about transactions involving Iran, putting them at risk of violating U.S. sanctions.Meng Wanzhou was ordered to appear in court on February 6 to set a date for further hearings.
According to CBC reports, according to Canada's extradition law, the United States should formally request extradition within 60 days of Meng Wanzhou's arrest.
The latest news shows that Canadian Justice Department spokesman Ian McLeod responded in an email that the United States has not yet formally submitted an extradition request (including supporting documents).They must submit their application before January 30, 2019.After that, Canada has 30 days to decide whether to authorize the case to continue.
WeChat public account Niu Danqin once pointed out that Canada should hold an extradition hearing 30 days after receiving the extradition documents. Meng Wanzhou will definitely defend this and refuse to be extradited, which means the beginning of a court tug-of-war.
It is worth noting that due to the budget impasse between Trump and the US Congress, the US government has been partially shut down for 29 days, and hundreds of thousands of government employees have been forced to take leave or work without pay.Trump made a rare compromise on the 19th, proposing to exchange immigration protection for the cost of building a border wall, but was rejected by the Democrats, and there is still no hope of reopening the government.
The U.S. Department of Justice refused to disclose more information about the Meng Wanzhou case, saying only that the case was not affected by the partial shutdown of the U.S. government: We have no comment, we can only say that the current (government) operating conditions will not affect the preparation of documents..
Gary Botting, a Vancouver lawyer with extensive experience in extradition cases, said that if the United States misses the deadline, the newly appointed Attorney General David Lametti will be responsible for releasing Meng Wanzhou.
If the documents are not received within 60 days, all journalists here will emphasize that Meng Wanzhou should be released in accordance with the law.This is how the law stipulates... The Minister of Justice must release people in accordance with the law.
New Justice Minister David Lametti (right) Picture from Canadian media
Botin added that Meng's case is still in the political stage and will not enter the judicial stage before Lametti authorizes the continuation of the case.However, another lawyer familiar with the extradition case, Donald Bayne, believes that it is not unusual for the U.S. authorities to delay formally submitting an extradition application as the 60-day deadline approaches.
He speculated that the U.S. would meet the application deadline: The Americans started all this - they could never say with a straight face, 'Yes, we decided not to continue,' or 'Oh my God,We have nothing about this case.rsquo;
Bain said that even if the United States misses the deadline, the Meng case will not end there, but Trump's remarks will affect the case.Because in a previous interview with Reuters, Trump revealed that he would intervene in Meng Wanzhou's case if a trade agreement with China could be brokered.
Meng Wanzhou's legal team can argue that Trump's remarks essentially made her a human bargaining chip and demonstrated an abuse of the judicial process.
On the 17th, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei accepted a group interview with the media regarding Meng Wanzhou’s case. As Meng Wanzhou’s father, he would first like to thank the Chinese government for safeguarding Meng Wanzhou’s rights as a Chinese citizen and providing her with consular protection.I also thank people from all walks of life for their support, concern and concern for Meng Wanzhou.
He revealed that my daughter and I are just talking on the phone now, and we only tell jokes on the phone. Wan Zhou is also very strong.
After Meng Wanzhou was released on bail last month, Huawei emphasized that, as we have always emphasized, Huawei complies with all applicable laws and regulations of the countries where it operates, including applicable export control and sanctions laws and regulations of the United Nations, the United States, and the European Union.We hope that the U.S. and Canadian governments can end this incident promptly and fairly.
