<![CDATA[Video shows Canada border officers abusing Meng Wanzhou's rights by questioning her about Iran, lawyers tell court, as Huawei extradition saga continues]>

Lawyers for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on Tuesday played a silent video in court of her being questioned by Canadian border officers at Vancouver's airport on December 1, claiming they show her being asked about the Chinese tech giant's business dealings in Iran.

The video was used to bolster the defence claim that Meng was the subject of an abuse of process, in which Canadian border agents acted as covert investigators for the FBI without telling Meng that she was the subject of a US arrest warrant.

A screenshot of a CCTV recording taken at Vancouver's airport on December 1 shows Meng Wanzhou (left) being questioned by two Canadian border officers. Photo: British Columbia Supreme Court alt=A screenshot of a CCTV recording taken at Vancouver's airport on December 1 shows Meng Wanzhou (left) being questioned by two Canadian border officers. Photo: British Columbia Supreme Court

Tuesday is the second day of a scheduled eight-day hearing in British Columbia's Supreme Court to discuss evidence disclosure in Meng's case, ahead of the formal extradition hearing, which is expected to begin in January and last until October or November 2020.

Lawyer Richard Peck said Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers had interrogated the Huawei executive about her homes around the world and business affairs without revealing she was the subject of the US arrest warrant. One asked her if the company did business in Iran, he said.

"I reminded the subject that she was the CFO of a multibillion-dollar company," Peck quoted the agent as saying.

"Those questions relate directly to the allegations that found the warrant and [these] extradition proceedings," Peck said. He added rhetorically: "What [do] these questions have to do with a routine immigration investigation?"

Peck said Tuesday that Meng's treatment by CBSA officers was "anything but routine".

Another of her lawyers, Scott Fenton, said Meng had suffered "serious violations" of her Canadian charter rights. He argued that it was within Justice Heather Holmes' powers to stay proceedings on the basis of such abuses.

Fenton referred to the seizure of Meng's electronic devices by CBSA officers before her arrest as an abuse of process. Crown lawyers now claimed US authorities were no longer interested in the contents of the devices, he said, but "that does not lessen the severity of the abuse".

Fenton said the CBSA search of Meng was conducted under the "plausible facade" of an immigration examination, but it had an "unlawful aim".

"In reality ... they were exercising their powers for an improper purpose," Fenton said, namely, gathering evidence for the FBI's criminal investigation of Meng.

Fenton said there were "strategic omissions" from the CBSA record to obscure this.

"We are not on the proverbial 'fishing expedition' in any way," he said. "We are not relying on conjecture or guesswork or wishful thinking."

Meng entered court in a short black cocktail dress, encrusted in sequins on the sleeves and collar, and wearing black velvet stilettos, also twinkling with sequins. It was a second eye-catching outfit for Meng this week, and a departure from her earlier courtroom attire. She had previously favoured hooded sweatshirts and other casual clothing in court.

She was arrested at the Vancouver airport during a stopover from Hong Kong on her way to Mexico.

The US wants her to face trial for allegedly defrauding HSBC bank, in a case related to Huawei's supposed business in Iran, which was allegedly in breach of American sanctions.

Monday was devoted largely to Meng's team building the case that evidence disclosure by the Canadian attorney general's lawyers " acting on behalf of the US " has been inadequate.

Peck said on Monday that Canadian border officers had improperly delayed Meng's arrest at the airport in order to conduct a "covert criminal investigation" into her at the request of the US FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Meng was a victim of an abuse of process, he told Holmes.

Her case has been a flashpoint in US-China relations, occurring in the midst of the trade war.

The arrest also sent China-Canada relations plunging to their lowest depths in years. China has detained two Canadians, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, accusing them of espionage, but Canada says the detentions are retribution for the Meng case.

Meng is free on C$10 million (US$7.5 million) bail, living in a C$13 million mansion that is one of two homes she owns in Vancouver. A former permanent resident of Canada, she has been a frequent visitor to the city in recent years, including six visits in 2018 before her arrest on her seventh.

Meng, 47, is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei. The case continues.

This is a developing story and will be updated throughout the day.

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Copyright (c) 2019. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.