Embattled Huawei CFO sues Canada over wrongful detention

The Huawei Technologies Co. chief financial officer whose detention in Canada has sparked a diplomatic standoff has filed a civil lawsuit against Canadian authorities, alleging she was wrongfully detained and searched.

Meng Wanzhou claims that her constitutional rights were breached and is seeking damages for an ordeal she says amounted to false imprisonment.

The suit was filed on March 1 in the Supreme Court of British Columbia against the Canadian Border Services Agency, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer and the Canadian government.

Read also: Google refuses to ban controversial Saudi govt app

The notice alleges that the police officer and several border guards detained, searched and interrogated Meng under the guise of a routine customs or immigration case, and used that opportunity to unlawfully compel her to provide evidence and information.

It also alleges they did so without immediately arresting her under the warrant to avoid affording Meng her constitutional rights.

Instead, according to the complaint, the officers detained the Huawei CFO on the jetway December 1 as she was getting off a flight, took away two phones, an iPad and a computer, then got her to surrender the passwords to those devices.

She was formally arrested only about three hours after her initial detention, the claim says.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now