Intervening in Meng Case in Exchange for Release of 2 Michaels Would Set Dangerous Precedent, Say PM and Others

Letter from Canadian elites calling for Ottawa to interfere in Meng case widely criticized

People hold signs calling for China to release Canadian detainees Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig during an extradition hearing for Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou at the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, British Columbia, in Canada on March 6, 2019. Lindsey Wasson/Reuters

A call this week from former high-level Canadian officials to politically intervene to end extradition proceedings against Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou would set a dangerous precedent, say a chorus of critics including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 

Nineteen former federal cabinet ministers, parliamentarians, and diplomats signed an open letter urging the federal government to intervene in the extradition case against Meng in exchange for the release of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who have been arbitrarily detained in China since December 2018.