Chinese regime sentenced Canadian Michael Spavor to 11 years in prison for espionage

A Chinese court on Wednesday sentenced Canadian businessman Michael Spavor to 11 years in prison for espionage., in a matter which, according to your country, is politically motivated.

Spavor “was convicted of espionage and illegal provision of state secrets. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison ”, said a statement from the Dandong City Intermediate People’s Court.

The conviction of the Canadian consultant, whose detention in China has been described by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “arbitrary”, has further worsened relations between Ottawa and Beijing.

Spavor was arrested in December 2018, in what Canada considers retaliation for the arrest days earlier in Vancouver of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei., at the request of the United States.

By a statement published on its website, the court announced his “guilt” and that “property worth 50,000 yuan ($ 7,715 / 6,581 euros) will also be confiscated.”

Spavor was played last March, but the court ruled the verdict would be announced on a date to be determined.

In June 2020, China accused Spavor of “illegally providing state secrets and intelligence information to foreign forces,” while another Canadian, Michael Kovrig, was accused of stealing them.

As the Beijing No.2 Intermediate People’s Court reported in March, the verdict of Kovrig – a diplomat on leave who at the time of his arrest was working for the Crisis Group think tank – will also be announced “on a date. to be determined. “

Spavor, a businessman specializing in doing business with North Korea, was arrested (“arbitrarily”, according to the Canadian Embassy in Beijing) on ​​December 10, 2018 and has since been held in detention.

The Ambassador of Canada to China, Dominic Burton, went to Dandong Detention Center, where Spavor is being held, to hear the sentence.

Diplomats from Germany and the United States also visited the city to hear the verdict, while diplomats from 25 countries gathered at the Canadian embassy in China.

Spavor and Kovrig were both arrested hours after Canada’s arrest in December 2018 in Vancouver, at the behest of the United States, Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei and daughter of the founder of the Chinese tech company.

Meng was arrested during her stopover in Canada bound for Mexico, after Washington requested her extradition from Canada after accusing her of bank fraud to violate trade sanctions imposed by the United States against Iran.

The trial for Meng’s extradition is still pending before the Supreme Court of the province of British Columbia, on Canada’s Pacific coast.

Meng, whose release has been repeatedly requested by Beijing, is on probation and lives with his family in one of two mansions he owns in Vancouver.

Meanwhile, the two Michael’s (as Spavor and Kovrig are commonly referred to) have remained in strict isolation, with limited visits from Canadian consular staff, and in cells that maintain 24-hour lighting, according to the North Press. -american country.

His case drastically deteriorated relations between Canada and China, which also suffered from his contacts with the United States during the tenure of former US President Donald Trump.

(With information from AFP and EFE)

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