Huawei CFO sues Canadian government over arrest

Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou is set to sue the Canadian government, its border agency and the national police force, claiming that she was detained and interrogated before being notified that she was under arrest.

Wanzhou, the daughter of the Chinese tech company's founder, was arrested in Canada back in December last year after the US government requested her detention, accusing her of breaching the sanctions regime against dealings with Iran.

On Sunday, Meng's attorneys said they had filed a notice of civil claim in the British Columbia supreme court. The lawsuit claims Wanzhou was interrogated “under the guise of a routine customs examination”, without being notified she was already under arrest, in an attempt to extract sensitive information from her.

The lawsuit also claims Canada Border Service Agency agents seized her electronic devices, obtained passwords and unlawfully viewed their contents.

“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 said.