Canadian court grants bail to Huawei CFO

Vancouver [Canada], Dec 12 (ANI): A Canadian court on Tuesday granted bail to Meng Wanzhou, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Chinese tech giant Huawei.
A British Columbia Supreme Court judge ordered that the Chinese executive should be released under various conditions, which also includes electronic surveillance 24 hours a day.
Meng was released on a 10 million Canadian dollars bail, which includes seven million Canadian dollars in cash from her husband and the remaining three million Canadian dollars from sureties, Global News reported.
However, Meng is still facing a possible extradition to the United States to face fraud charges linked to the alleged violation of sanctions on Iran.
During the three-day hearing, Meng's lawyers argued that she would not pose a flight risk if she was granted bail. The lawyers also clarified that Meng is a Chinese citizen and she came to Canada on a visitor visa.
Meng was arrested on December 1 while transferring planes at Vancouver International Airport en route to Mexico from Hong Kong. The Huawie CFO, who has been accused of fraud with a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, was held by Canadian authorities at an extradition request of the US.
Meng, who is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, allegedly allowed company's subsidiary SkyCom to do business in Iran, thereby violating US sanctions against the country.
The Chinese tech giant reportedly also received several warnings over violating Washington's sanctions against Tehran.
Earlier, China opposed the arrest of the Huawei's CFO and urged Canada to release the officer. "At the request of the US side, the Canadian side arrested a Chinese citizen not violating any American or Canadian law. The Chinese side firmly opposes and strongly protests over such kind of actions which seriously harmed the human rights of the victim," Xinhua quoted a spokesperson of the Chinese embassy saying in a statement.
The spokesperson further said that the Chinese side has lodged stern representations with the US and Canadian side and urged them to immediately "correct the wrongdoing and restore the personal freedom of Meng." "We will closely follow the development of the issue and take all measures to resolutely protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens," the spokesperson added.
Huawei has also denied any wrongdoing by its CFO and stated, "The company has been provided very little information regarding the charges and is not aware of any wrongdoing by Meng. The company believes the Canadian and US legal systems will ultimately reach a just conclusion. Huawei complies with all applicable laws and regulations where it operates, including applicable export control and sanction laws and regulations of the UN, US and EU." (ANI)