The court hearing for a Canadian man detained in China for more than two years on espionage charges finished after less than three hours yesterday, a Canadian diplomat said.
Michael Spavor is one of two Canadians detained, in apparent retaliation for Canada’s arrest on a US extradition warrant of Huawei Technologies Co chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou (孟晚舟), and formally charged in June last year with spying.
Canada has called the charges against the men as “trumped-up,” and the three cases have sent relations between Ottawa and Beijing to their lowest point in decades.
Spavor’s family have called for his unconditional release, insisting that he was innocent of the accusations and had done much as a businessman to “build constructive ties” between Canada, China and North Korea.
Jim Nickel, the deputy head of mission at the Canadian embassy in Beijing, told reporters outside the courtroom that the hearing had finished, and officials were awaiting the verdict.
Nickel earlier told reporters outside the court in the city of Dandong near China’s border with North Korea that Canada was “disappointed by the lack of transparency and the lack of access” to the proceedings, from which Canadian officials were barred.
The trial of Michael Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat, is scheduled to start on Monday next week in Beijing.
The two men were detained in China just days after Meng was arrested in Canada, drawing accusations from Ottawa that they were taken as virtual hostages to apply pressure in the case of the Huawei executive.
The timing of the trials against the men — revealed by the Canadian government only on Wednesday — after a two-year wait also appears linked to proceedings in the Meng’s case.
Meng, whose father is Huawei founder and chief executive officer Ren Zhengfei (任正非), has been fighting extradition to the US on charges that she and the company contravened US sanctions against Iran and other laws.
Her court case in Vancouver entered its final phase two weeks ago, with hearings expected to end in mid-May, barring appeals.
The “two Michaels,” as they have become known, have had almost no contact with the outside world since their detention.
Virtual consular visits only resumed in October last year after a nine-month hiatus that Chinese authorities said was due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
China’s judicial system convicts most people who stand trial, and the two men face up to life in prison if found guilty of “espionage” and “providing state secrets.”
Nickel said that Canada hopes to obtain their immediate release.
“We are working closely with the United States as well to secure the immediate release of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, so we are hopeful that in some measure this trial may lead to [that],” Nickel said.
Beijing has insisted that the detention of the two Canadians is lawful, while calling Meng’s case “a purely political incident.”
Agence France-Presse saw a police van with tinted windows arriving at the court in Dandong earlier yesterday morning, surrounded by about a dozen police officers as it drove past reporters waiting outside.
A group of 10 diplomats from eight other countries including the UK, the US, France and Australia had also traveled to Dandong, in what Nickel described as a gesture of solidarity for Spavor and to “register their opposition to arbitrary detention.”
“We appreciate the international support,” he told reporters.
VAGUE: The criteria of the amnesty remain unclear, but it would cover political violence from 1999 to today, and those convicted of murder or drug trafficking would not qualify Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodriguez on Friday announced an amnesty bill that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisoners, including opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists detained for political reasons. The measure had long been sought by the US-backed opposition. It is the latest concession Rodriguez has made since taking the reins of the country on Jan. 3 after the brazen seizure of then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. Rodriguez told a gathering of justices, magistrates, ministers, military brass and other government leaders that the ruling party-controlled Venezuelan National Assembly would take up the bill with urgency. Rodriguez also announced the shutdown
Civil society leaders and members of a left-wing coalition yesterday filed impeachment complaints against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, restarting a process sidelined by the Supreme Court last year. Both cases accuse Duterte of misusing public funds during her term as education secretary, while one revives allegations that she threatened to assassinate former ally Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The filings come on the same day that a committee in the House of Representatives was to begin hearings into impeachment complaints against Marcos, accused of corruption tied to a spiraling scandal over bogus flood control projects. Under the constitution, an impeachment by the
Exiled Tibetans began a unique global election yesterday for a government representing a homeland many have never seen, as part of a democratic exercise voters say carries great weight. From red-robed Buddhist monks in the snowy Himalayas, to political exiles in megacities across South Asia, to refugees in Australia, Europe and North America, voting takes place in 27 countries — but not China. “Elections ... show that the struggle for Tibet’s freedom and independence continues from generation to generation,” said candidate Gyaltsen Chokye, 33, who is based in the Indian hill-town of Dharamsala, headquarters of the government-in-exile, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). It
China executed 11 people linked to Myanmar criminal gangs, including “key members” of telecom scam operations, state media reported yesterday, as Beijing toughens its response to the sprawling, transnational industry. Fraud compounds where scammers lure Internet users into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments have flourished across Southeast Asia, including in Myanmar. Initially largely targeting Chinese speakers, the criminal groups behind the compounds have expanded operations into multiple languages to steal from victims around the world. Those conducting the scams are sometimes willing con artists, and other times trafficked foreign nationals forced to work. In the past few years, Beijing has stepped up cooperation
RSS