Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday condemned China for sentencing Michael Spavor, a Canadian national, to 11 years in jail for “spying” and “illegally providing state secrets”, consistent with a press release released by the prime minister of Canada’s office. pertaining to China’s conviction and sentencing of the Canadian businessman as “unacceptable and unjust”, Trudeau said that the trial “did not satisfy even the minimum standards required by law of nations .”
Spavor was under detention since 2018 under espionage charges. The case has been linked to Beijing’s pressure campaign against the Canadian government over the arrest of an executive at tech giant Huawei. the event came each day after the death sentence imposed on another Canadian national was upheld in China.
Issuing a press release from his office in Ontario, Trudeau said that the decision against Spavor came after “more than two and a half years of arbitrary detention” and “a lack of transparency within the legal process”.
“For Mr. Spavor, also as for Michael Kovrig who has also been arbitrarily detained, our top priority remains securing their immediate release,” Trudeau said in his statement. “We will continue working round the clock to bring them home as soon as possible.”
Trudeau also added a word for Spavor’s kin and promised all help from the federal in tiding across the difficult time.
“Our thoughts, and therefore the thoughts of all Canadians, are with Mr. Spavor and his loved ones during this incredibly difficult time,” he said. “The Government of Canada continues to supply consular assistance to Mr. Spavor and his family as we work to secure his safe return.”
The prime minister of Canada also thanked the nation’s allies, partners, and friends for his or her solidarity and support for the discharge of Spavor and Kovrig, and their opposition to the “practice of arbitrary detention.”
“We won’t rest until they’re safely brought home,” Trudeau vowed.
Notably, the decision by the Chinese court today is testing what political commentators have called an already “strained” relationship between Canada and China. Spavor and fellow Canadian ex-diplomat Kovrig were detained in China in what critics labeled “hostage politics” after the chief , Meng Wanzhou, was arrested at the Vancouver airport in late 2018 at the request folks authorities.
