Anonymous ID: 0527d0 March 31, 2020, 7:39 a.m. No.8635120   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>5196 >>5359

>>8635027

Could this tantrum be due to this?

 

Judge indicates ruling in Meng Wanzhou case not being released in 'near future'

 

The judge presiding over the Meng Wanzhou extradition hearing has indicated she will not be releasing her much-anticipated ruling in the case in the near future.

 

B.C. Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes made the comment during a short case-management conference Monday.

 

Although many regular court cases have been adjourned due to COVID-19 concerns, the Meng proceeding went ahead as previously scheduled.

 

The Huawei executive and her lawyers were not present in court but were connected to the proceeding through a teleconferencing call that also included federal Crown prosecutors.

 

As the hearing began, the judge, who was present, noted that the small number of people in the courtroom were maintaining the social-distancing requirement of health authorities during the pandemic. The small turnout contrasted sharply with prior appearances in the high-profile case that have featured large numbers of people, including reporters, crowding into the courtroom.

 

The judge’s expected ruling deals with Meng’s application that she be discharged on the grounds that the Crown has failed to meet the test for double-criminality in the extradition process.

 

Meng, who was arrested at the Vancouver airport in December 2018 and is being sought for extradition to the U.S. on fraud charges, claims that the essence of the alleged conduct is a violation of U.S. sanctions to Iran, an offence that doesn’t exist in Canada.

 

During several days of submissions in January, the Crown argued that the heart of the case is the alleged fraud of lying to bank officials who were inquiring into links between Huawei and a former subsidiary doing business in Iran in violation of the U.S. sanctions.

 

If Meng wins the double-criminality argument, she will be released. If she loses, the case proceeds to the next stage, dealing with an allegation by Meng that Canadian authorities engaged in an abuse of process in arresting her.

 

Lawyers for the Crown told the judge Monday that they had produced a substantial number of documents for Meng in response to Holmes’s order in December that they provide more disclosure in relation to the arrest.

 

The judge was told that court appearances previously scheduled for June should be kept for now.

 

The next appearance in the case is set for April 27 and will deal with a litigation plan that contemplates the COVID-19 concerns as they stand at that point.

 

https://vancouversun.com/news/judge-indicates-ruling-in-meng-wanzhou-case-not-being-released-in-near-future/