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Canadian government prosecutors have argued that Meng Wanzhou should be considered a flight risk.
Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou’s request to relax bail conditions set upon her release from prison in 2018 was rejected by a Canadian judge on Friday, as she continues to fight the extradition to the United States.
Meng faces bank fraud charges in the United States for allegedly deceiving HSBC about Huawei’s business dealings in Iran, which caused the bank to violate US sanctions.
She has been under house arrest in Vancouver, Canada, since her arrest at the airport in December 2018.
His arrest chilled relations between Beijing and Ottawa, and soon after, China detained two Canadians, who continue to have limited access to a lawyer or diplomatic agents.
Under the 2018 bail conditions, Meng is allowed to leave her home in an upscale Vancouver neighborhood during the day, but must be escorted by a security guard at all times.
Meng asked a court to allow her to drop daytime safety details, highlighting health conditions that she said made her more vulnerable to COVID-19 and noting that she had not violated any of her conditions. on bail for two years.
Canadian government prosecutors were against the change, arguing it should be viewed as a flight risk.
British Columbia Supreme Court Judge William Ehrcke on Friday dismissed her request, saying “the current bail conditions are the minimum required to mitigate Ms. Meng’s flight risk to an acceptable level.”
“At the time the order was made, she was expected to comply. The fact that she did is not a material change in circumstances, ”said Ehrcke.
He said Meng’s attorneys had not presented medical evidence that she was “more vulnerable than most other 48-year-old women” to infection with the coronavirus.
Meng will then appear in court on March 1 for the final leg of his extradition hearings, which are scheduled to end in May.
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