Huawei CFO sues Canada authorities

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, has filed suit against Canadian authorities for violating her constitutional rights when she was arrested in Vancouver, her lawyers said Sunday.

As she suffered "serious breaches of her constitutional rights," she is "seeking damages for misfeasance in public office and false imprisonment" when detained at Vancouver International Airport on December 1, attorneys Howard Mickelson and Allan Doolittle said in a statement.

The 47-year-old businesswoman was changing planes in Vancouver when she was detained at Washington's request on suspicion of violating US sanctions on Iran -- sparking arrests of Canadians in China that were seen as retaliatory.

Her lawyers charge impropriety in the conditions under which Meng was interrogated for three hours by the customs officers, officially as part of a routine inspection, before being served with her official arrest.

The complaint was lodged Friday, the same day that Canadian justice officially launched Meng Wanzhou's extradition process to the US, reported AFP.

Huawei plans to announce a lawsuit against the US government on Thursday on grounds related to a defense bill, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Meanwhile, China yesterday accused detained Canadian citizen Michael Kovrig of stealing state secrets which were passed on to him from another detained Canadian, Michael Spavor, in what is likely to further ramp up tension between Ottawa and Beijing.