Feds green-light formal extradition process for Meng Wanzhou

OTTAWA – The federal Justice Department is giving the go-ahead for an extradition case to proceed against Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, who is wanted in the United States on fraud allegations.

Meng was arrested at Vancouver International Airport late last year at the request of the U.S. government.

The decision is a formality and allows a judge to hear arguments about whether to grant the American request that she stand trial there.

Ultimately, Justice Minister David Lametti must decide if Meng is extradited, which is why his department says in a release that he will not comment on the facts of the case.

The case heads back to the British Columbia Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The Chinese government has demanded Meng’s immediate release and has criticized Canada for acting on what it sees as a politically motivated extradition request by the U.S., but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has maintained his country is simply following the rule of law.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang was asked today whether he thought the Trudeau government is taking an inconsistent approach in the cases of Meng and SNC-Lavalin and he responded that he thinks fair-minded people can tell right from wrong.

Extradition could take some time

Immigration Lawyer Peter Edelmann, had said the approval doesn’t mean Meng would be extradited overnight…or anytime in the near future.

“The requesting state, in this case the United States, would need to demonstrate the case that they have for taking Ms. Meng’s trial in the United States,” Edelmann adds.

He says it could still be years before Meng is taken to the U.S.

“Meng could appeal those decisions so that whole process could take a year or two or longer.”