In court documents released last month, the defence has argued Meng was unlawfully detained at Vancouver’s airport last December at the direction of American authorities.
Meng’s lawyers allege Canadian officials acted as “agents” of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, but they say the question that remains is to what extent and how the FBI was involved in what they describe as a “scheme.”
None of the allegations in the case have been tested in court.
Meng was arrested at the behest of the United States, which is seeking her extradition on fraud charges in violation of sanctions with Iran.
Both Meng and Chinese tech giant Huawei have denied any wrongdoing.
Her arrest sparked a diplomatic crisis between Canada and China.
Meng is the chief financial officer of Huawei and the daughter of the company’s founder.
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Video footage showing the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver International Airport is part of a court-ordered release of information on the extradition case. Photo: Handout
Video footage showing the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver International Airport is part of a court-ordered release of information on the extradition case. Photo: Handout

Canada judge releases video of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou being searched at Vancouver airport before arrest

  • Documents filed by Meng’s counsel released for ‘maximum transparency’
  • Lawyer seeking Huawei executive’s extradition to US must file submissions by September 17
A Canadian judge has ordered the release of exhibits and documents filed by Meng Wanzhou’s lawyers as part of her extradition case, including video that shows border officers searching the Huawei executive’s bags at Vancouver International Airport on December 1, the day of her arrest.
Madam Justice Heather Holmes made the decision during a brief hearing at the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver on Tuesday, after Meng’s lawyers said that the high level of interest in the case demanded “maximum transparency”.
In the video, Meng, dressed in a dark hoodie and white trainers after arriving from Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific flight 838 at 11.30am, is seen being led through airport security areas by two female officers, then presenting herself to two male border officers.
They search her hand baggage, then two airport trolleys full of her luggage.
About three hours later, Meng was arrested by Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers, a moment that was not seen on the video.
It and the other evidence and documents, including a memorandum of argument and three affidavits, were ordered to be released in what Holmes described as an “somewhat unusual” move.
Both Meng’s lawyer, David Martin, and crown lawyer John Gibb-Carsley, who is arguing for Meng’s extradition to the US on behalf of American authorities, told Holmes they agreed the material should be released immediately.
“Maximum transparency in this case is in the public interest,” Martin said.
The material was filed by Meng’s team on Friday, but it had yet to be formally marked as exhibits.
The judge said it was “somewhat unusual to provide media access to material the moment they are filed … but this case has attracted a very high level of media interest”.
“The interests of justice are best served”, by the material’s immediate release, she said, allowing it to be copied to USB flash drives and distributed to accredited reporters at the court.
Video footage from Vancouver International Airport shows Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou talking to border officers. Photo: Handout
Video footage from Vancouver International Airport shows Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou talking to border officers. Photo: Handout

Gibb-Carsley said the crown’s material would be submitted in September, and in meantime the media should be trusted to depict the material released on Tuesday as “only showing one side of the story”. Holmes agreed to a September 17 deadline for crown submissions, an extension of one day.
Meng, who is living in her C$13 million (US$9.8 million) Vancouver mansion while on bail, was not in court on Tuesday. She is scheduled to appear on September 23 for the formal start of the extradition hearing.
She was arrested at the request of the US, which wants her extradited to face charges of bank fraud related to an alleged breach of US sanctions against Iran by Huawei.
Her lawyers say the case is political and fails the test of double criminality, which requires that people extradited from Canada face charges that would be considered criminal in Canada