Kicking the Can Down the Road

I must say that I did not see this coming:

China tech giant Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou will continue to face extradition to the U.S. from Canada on fraud charges, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes rejected Meng’s argument the process should be stopped because the accusations are political at heart and do not constitute a crime in Canada — an essential element under the extradition treaty.

“I conclude that, as a matter of law, the ‘double criminality’ requirement for extradition is capable of being met in this case,” Holmes wrote in the 23-page decision. “The effects of the U.S. sanctions may properly play a role in the double-criminality analysis as part of the background or context against which the alleged conduct is examined.”

Holmes added that she was making no determination about the larger question of whether there is admissible evidence that would justify Meng’s committal for trial in Canada.

“This question will be determined at a later stage in the proceedings,” she said.

Arrested at Vancouver International Airport in December 2018, Meng is wanted in the United States for conduct Washington considers a violation of U.S.-imposed sanctions against Iran.

American prosecutors alleged the veritable princess of the communist regime lied to bank officials inquiring into links between Huawei and a former subsidiary doing business in Iran.

Meng’s lawyers asked Holmes to halt the extradition process because her conduct would not amount to fraud if committed in Canada — failing to meet the so-called “double-criminality” requirement — because the country had no sanctions against Iran.

“It is important to note that these allegations are unproven, but must be taken as true for the purpose of this application,” Holmes emphasized in dismissing that argument.

 
Now, before everyone counts the days before Meng Wanzhou is spilling her guts to the Americans, this ruling does not mean that she will be extradited but that she could be extradited.

The allegedly impartial and independent judicial system may very well send Mrs. Meng on her merry way, thus doing the Vichy Trudeau government's bidding:

Ultimately, she said, it is up to Justice Minister David Lametti to decide whether “prosecution according to the foreign laws could lead to an unjust or oppressive result according to Canadian values.” The minister decides, if a judge endorses the case for extradition, whether the individual should be extradited. And the courts can review that decision, giving further protection, the judge said, against an unjust result flowing from the context.

This Lametti.



In the mean time, China no like:

 

Chinese embassy on court decision today:
"The purpose of the United States is to bring down Huawei and other Chinese high-tech companies, and Canada has been acting in the process as an accomplice of the United States. The whole case is entirely a grave political incident."

— Vassy Kapelos (@VassyKapelos) May 27, 2020

I suppose China will have to live with some discomfort for a while.