Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou has filed a lawsuit against the federal government, as well as members of the Canada Border Services Agency and the RCMP, alleging “serious breaches” of her constitutional rights when she was detained at Vancouver International Airport on Dec. 1.
Ms. Meng, a Chinese citizen and chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., was arrested while changing planes in Vancouver, causing a diplomatic rift between Canada and China.
She has been released on bail and is living in Vancouver. U.S. prosecutors accuse Ms. Meng and Huawei of fraud to circumvent U.S. sanctions on Iran.
A statement Sunday from law firm Gudmundseth Mickelson LLP, which is representing Ms. Meng, said a notice of civil claim was filed March 1 in B.C. Supreme Court.
The action alleges serious breaches of Ms. Meng’s constitutional rights and seeks damages for “misfeasance in public office and false imprisonment based on alleged multiple failures of those Canadian government officials to comply with the rule of law,” the statement said.
According to court documents, the claim alleges that CBSA officers, “under the guise of a routine border check, unlawfully subjected [Ms. Meng] to detention, search and interrogation to extract evidence from her before she was arrested and provided with her rights under the Charter.”
The claims have not yet been tested in court. The federal government, and members of the CBSA and the RCMP have yet to file a statement of defence.
The Canadian government on Friday gave the green light for hearings to proceed on whether to hand Ms. Meng over to U.S. law authorities.
The federal government took pains to defend Friday's decision to approve extradition hearings, saying in a news release that Canada is following the letter of the law governing such proceedings.
“Canada is a country governed by the rule of law,” a Department of Justice statement said. “The decision on whether to issue an Authority to Proceed was made by Department of Justice ... officials who are part of a non-partisan public service.”
China has accused Canada of collaborating with the United States to harass Ms. Meng, chief executive officer of Huawei, China’s biggest private company.
