An executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei is suing the Canadian government, its border agency and the national police force, saying they detained, searched and interrogated her before telling her she was under arrest.
Lawyers for Meng Wanzhou said on Sunday that they had filed a notice of civil claim in the British Columbia Supreme Court.
Canada arrested Meng, the daughter of Huawei’s founder, at the request of the US on December 1 at Vancouver’s airport.
She is wanted on fraud charges that she misled banks about the company’s business dealings in Iran.
The suit alleges Canada Border Service Agency agents seized her electronic devices, obtained passwords and unlawfully viewed the contents and intentionally failed to advise her of the true reasons for her detention.
The suit said only after three hours was she told she was under arrest and had the right to counsel.
“This case concerns a deliberate and pre-meditated effort on the part of the defendant officers to obtain evidence and information from the plaintiff in a manner which they knew constituted serious violations of the plaintiff’s rights,” the claim says.
Meng is out on bail and living in Vancouver awaiting extradition proceedings.
Fact: the Authority to Proceed is the first step in the extradition process. The decision was made by Department of Justice Canada officials, who are part of a non-partisan public service. #MengWanzhou https://t.co/DekpRoG9rp pic.twitter.com/3hSO8DtUIR
— Justice Canada (@JusticeCanadaEN) March 1, 2019
On Friday, Canadian Justice Department officials gave the go-ahead for her extradition proceedings to begin.
Meng is due in court on Wednesday to set a date for the proceedings to start. It could be several months or even years before her case is resolved.
Meng’s arrest set off a diplomatic furore and severely strained Canadian relations with China. Beijing has accused Washington of a politically motivated attempt to hurt the company.
China detained former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor on December 10 in an apparent attempt to pressure Canada to release Meng.
The state news agency said on Monday that the pair had acted together to steal state secrets.
A Chinese court also sentenced a Canadian to death in a sudden retrial, overturning a 15-year prison term handed down earlier.
Nicolas Dorion, a spokesman for the Canada Border Services Agency, said it was not the agency’s practice to comment on legal matters that are before the courts.
A justice department spokesman referred comment to the border agency, and a spokesman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said they were unlikely to comment on Sunday.
