Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou suing Canada, its border agency and the RCMP for ‘false imprisonment’

According to the suit, Meng was illegally searched and questioned “under the guise of a routine border check ... to extract evidence from her before she was arrested and provided with her rights under the (Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms).”

The lawsuit further alleges that CBSA officers seized her electronic devices, obtained passwords, unlawfully viewed the contents and intentionally failed to advise her of the true reasons for her detention.

Meng was arrested at the request of the United States, which is seeking her extradition to face fraud charges related to violations of U.S. trade sanctions against Iran.

Her arrest threw Canada into a heated diplomatic dispute with an outraged Beijing, which has since detained a pair of Canadians in China — Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor — apparently in retaliation. A third man, Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, was handed a death sentence after a one-day retrial on charges related to drug smuggling for which he’d already been tried and given a prison sentence.

Read more:

Ottawa approves extradition process for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou

Liberal government will still seek deeper trade ties despite Beijing fury over Meng extradition

Leaked U.K. report on Huawei shows cracks in intelligence alliance, say security experts

According to a notice of civil claim, RCMP Const. Winston Yep obtained an arrest warrant for Meng on Nov. 30, the day before she landed in Vancouver on a stopover between Hong Kong and Mexico, her ultimate destination.

The warrant was obtained to support a request from a magistrate judge for the Eastern District of New York, which hopes to see Meng stand trial for what was described by Yep as “serious charges of fraud involving millions of dollars,” the documents say.

The notice of claim also alleges that Yep argued “it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to secure (Meng’s) presence in the United States for prosecution” unless she was arrested in Vancouver.

But instead of arresting Meng immediately upon her entry into the airport, the CBSA “detained, searched and interrogated (Meng) under the guise of a customs or immigration examination,” the documents allege.

Under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, anyone who’s arrested in Canada is entitled to be informed of the reason for their arrest, to retain a lawyer and to remain silent. But Meng was not informed of the reason for her arrest or of her right to legal counsel until three hours after she was first detained, the documents argue.

Routine searches and questioning of travellers does occur in the context of passing through Canadian customs, they acknowledge. But in such cases, it isn’t necessary for law enforcement to state the reasons for the examination.

But because an arrest warrant for Meng already existed, the procedure — undertaken with no explanation of her rights — was unlawful, the documents allege.

The claim also contends that this delay was purposeful, and that Meng, as a result of the ordeal, “suffered damages including mental distress, anxiety and loss of liberty.”

Meng is seeking general damages and “exemplary or punitive” damages for what she says was the infringement of her rights.

Neither the Department of Justice, the RCMP or the CBSA responded immediately to requests for comment.

The Justice Department gave the green light on Friday for Meng’s extradition proceedings to begin. The top Huawei executive is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday to set a date for the next step in those proceedings.

With files from The Associated Press