A court in China has sentenced Canadian businessman Michael Spavor to 11 years in prison for espionage.
The Intermediate People’s Court of Dandong City said Spavor illegally provided state secrets to overseas contacts.
“Michael Spavor, who organized tours to North Korea, was sentenced after being found guilty of stealing and illegally providing state secrets to other countries,” the Dandong Intermediate People’s Court said in a statement Wednesday. Spavor will also be deported, the court said, without elaborating whether that would happen after his full sentence and whether the almost 1,000 days he has already spent in detention would be deducted from his term.
Michael Spavor and another Canadian, former diplomat Michael Kovrig, were detained in December 2018, just days after Canada arrested Meng, who is a senior executive at Chinese telecom firm Huawei and the daughter of the company’s well-connected founder.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the jailing of Canadian businessman Michael Spavor in China on Wednesday.
China’s conviction and sentencing of Michael Spavor is “absolutely unacceptable and unjust”, Trudeau said in a statement.
“The verdict for Mr. Spavor comes after more than two-and-a-half years of arbitrary detention, a lack of transparency in the legal process, and a trial that did not satisfy even the minimum standards required by international law,” Trudeau said in a statement after a Chinese court sentenced Spavor to 11 years in prison.
“For Mr. Spavor, as well as for Michael Kovrig who has also been arbitrarily detained, our top priority remains securing their immediate release. We will continue working around the clock to bring them home as soon as possible.
Trudeau called for the release of Spavor, and former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig, who is awaiting a verdict in his espionage case.
Trudeau said the Government of Canada continues to provide consular assistance to Mr. Spavor and his family as the Government work to secure his safe return.
The United States embassy in Beijing also condemned the sentencing in a statement.
“These proceedings are a blatant attempt to use human beings as bargaining leverage,” the top American diplomat in China, David Meale, said in a statement. “Human beings should never be used as bargaining chips.”
50 diplomats from 25 countries including ambassadors from UK, Australia, NZ gathered at the Canadian embassy in Beijing Wednesday morning in support to await Spavor’s verdict, journalist Sophia yan said in a tweet.
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