VANCOUVER—Whether or not Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou is a flight risk will likely make up the bulk of the arguments presented at a bail hearing scheduled at B.C. Supreme Court Friday morning, according to a Vancouver immigration lawyer.Lawyer Richard Kurland said it’ll be up to Meng and her legal team to prove she is not likely to flee Canada if she is released from custody. Meng is being sought by the U.S. Attorney’s Eastern District of New York office to face unspecified charges after being detained while transferring planes in Vancouver on Dec. 1.Kurland said the review of whether or not Meng should remain behind bars while awaiting a later hearing to determine her extradition will likely take weeks. The extradition hearings themselves could take years depending on whether there are appeals, he said.“You’ll have a burden to demonstrate you’re not a flight risk and that you’re going to comply with the process. The way it’s typically done is the person engages, at their own expense, 24-hour security, private guards that monitor them independently,” Kurland said.“Second, you’ll also put together electronic monitoring and you need a place (to stay). So you have to have a residence where all of this is possible.”Nelson Cunningham, a former U.S. federal prosecutor and special adviser to the Clinton administration, said he anticipated Meng will remain behind bars pending the outcome of her extradition.“In the systems I know, someone like this would be highly likely to be in custody while their matter is being adjudicated. They’re such a flight risk, and because we know that if she leaves Canada, she’ll go to China and she’ll be beyond the reach of process,” Cunningham said.“I would be shocked if she were released on bail.”Meng is listed as the deputy chairwoman and chief financial officer of Huawei and is the daughter of Zhengfei Ren, the founder of th ...
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