Arabic version: المحكمة تسمح باستخدام اعترافات المدير المالي لشركة هواوي في المحاكمة القادمة

A US judge has ruled that statements made by Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou regarding the company’s illegal business activities in Iran can be used in the upcoming trial against Huawei, scheduled for September 8. This ruling was issued in Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday.

According to Al Jazeera, Meng’s admission was part of a deal made in 2021 to dismiss criminal charges she faced related to bank fraud in connection with sanctions violations. In a four-page statement, she acknowledged lying to a financial institution about Huawei’s compliance with sanctions and export control laws.

US District Judge Ann Donnelly emphasized that Huawei cannot object to the use of Meng’s statements, as they pertain to her role as a senior executive of the company. The judge dismissed Huawei’s argument that the company had the right to remain silent in this context and stated that questioning Meng at trial was unnecessary.

Meng’s case has been significant in the context of strained US-China relations, particularly following her arrest in Canada in 2018 on a US warrant. Since then, the charges against her were dismissed under a deferred prosecution agreement, which allowed her to return to China. The ongoing trial against Huawei includes allegations of misleading banks and stealing trade secrets.