Canadian Court Frees Huawei CFO From Custody On Bail Of $7.5 Million

Karamchand Rameshwar - Dec 13, 2018

The Huawei's CFO, Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested by Canadian authorities on December 1, has just been freed from custody on bail of $7.5 million.

Huawei’s CFO, Meng Wanzhou, was freed from custody by a Canadian court after 3 days of court hearings and also a bail of $7.5 million (around Rs. 53,8 crores).

This Vancouver court’s decision came as the US president, Donald Trump, told that he would intervene in the case if it would help close trade deals with China or serve national security interests.

The former diplomat of Canada, Michael Kovrig, has just been detained in China. He had served as political led for Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, in his visit to Hong Kong in 2016. The Canadian prime minister took the news of this detention very seriously as told to the reporters. Former analysts and diplomats had already cautioned that China might consider some forms of punitive measures as responses to the arrest of Huawei’s CFO.

Michael Kovrig

Meng was arrested on 1 December by the Canadian authorities while she was switching flights in Vancouver. She was accused by the US of misleading banks about Huawei’s relationship with Skycom - a company that runs a business with Iran.

Before being released, Meng had had to spend over a week in custody. But the 46-year old Huawei’s CFO was freed under several certain conditions. She has to submit to constant surveillance, surrender her passports, wear a GPS tracking bracelet, pay $7.5 million (around Rs. 53,8 crores), and live in her apartment in Vancouver. She is also asked to stay in her home from 11 pm to 6 am and pay for a 24×7 personal security guard. She also has to pay for all the cost relating to her GPS monitoring and surveillance.

The US hasn’t submitted a request for her extradition, and she will be released if there is no formal notice is submitted within 60 days.

China and Canada were in a similar situation before. Back in 2014, a Chinese national was held in custody in Canada due to an accusation of stealing military secrets and China arrested two Canadians who were running a cafe near the border of the North Korea in return.