After several days of court hearings, Meng Wanzhou has finally been released.
Wanzhou’s legal team has stated that she suffers from severe hypertension, and cited this health issue as one of the reasons she should be released on bail. As it turns out, Wanzhou was actually hospitalized for hypertension, shortly after being detained.
The conditions of her bail release are quite extensive, and are likely the reason that she was granted bail. Wanzhou posted $10 million Canadian dollars to be released, $3 million of which is pledge money from sureties who are close acquaintances of Meng in Canada. The remaining amount was posted by Wanzhou herself.
Wanzhou has relinquished all of her passports, and will live in one of her Vancouver homes for the time being. She will also pay for a 24/7 security team, and will wear a GPS bracelet to alleviate worries that she would flee to China.
There has been much speculation as to whether or not numerous outside factors led to the approval of Wanzhou’s release. China has been very vocal about the issue, demanding Wanzhou be released and declaring severe consequences unless things went the way they wanted. There is also the fact that Michael Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat, was detained in China yesterday. The Chinese government deny that this was retaliation over Canada’s detainment of Wanzhou.
Wanzhou has asserted her innocence in this case, and is due back in court on February 6th.
