Canada Premier rejects calls to release Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has dismissed calls from former parliamentarians and diplomats to release Huawei

Ottawa: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has dismissed calls from former parliamentarians and diplomats to release Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, who the US accuses of helping the of Chinese telecommunications giant dodge American sanctions on Iran, and unilaterally end her extradition process, it was reported. A group of 19 persons, including former foreign affairs ministers Lloyd Axworthy and Lawrence Cannon, penned a letter to Trudeau this week saying Justice Minister David Lametti should intervene to free Meng, CBC News said in a report on Thursday.

They said Meng's release would give Canada the chance to "redefine its strategic approach to China".

"There is no question that the US extradition request has put Canada in a difficult position. As Prime Minister, you face a difficult decision. Complying with the US request has greatly antagonized China," the letter said.

Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, is being sought by Washington on charges that she committed bank fraud and violated US sanctions on Iran by misleading banks about the business her company allegedly conducted in that country through a subsidiary called Skycom.

She was was arrested at the request of the US on December 1, 2018, in Vancouver where she was making a stopover on a trip from Hong Kong to Mexico City.

Last month, a Canadian judge declined to invalidate a request from the US for her extradition, saying that Meng's interpretation of "the double criminality analysis would seriously limit Canada's ability to fulfil its international obligations in the extradition context for fraud and other economic crimes". (IANS)

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Meng Wanzhou