{"id":19556,"date":"2021-08-11T11:35:30","date_gmt":"2021-08-11T15:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=19556"},"modified":"2021-08-11T11:35:30","modified_gmt":"2021-08-11T15:35:30","slug":"michael-spavor-canadian-jailed-for-11-years-in-china-on-spying-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2021\/08\/11\/michael-spavor-canadian-jailed-for-11-years-in-china-on-spying-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Spavor: Canadian jailed for 11 years in China on spying charges"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A court in China has convicted a Canadian businessman of espionage and sentenced him to 11 years in prison.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Michael Spavor has been detained since 2018, after being arrested with fellow Canadian ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The verdict will test a strained relationship between the Canadian and Chinese governments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It comes as an extradition battle involving Meng Wanzhou, a senior executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei, takes place in Canada.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Critics have accused China of treating both Spavor and Kovrig as political bargaining chips, held as part of what is known as “hostage diplomacy”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In a statement published on Wednesday, the Dandong court said: “For the crime of spying and illegal provision of state secrets abroad [Spavor] has been sentenced to 11 years in jail, confiscation of 50,000 yuan ($7,715: \u00a35,578) worth of personal property and deportation.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The statement did not explicitly state when the deportation would take place but China typically deports convicted foreigners only after they have completed their prison sentence.<\/div>\n
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the conviction was “absolutely unacceptable and unjust”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“The verdict for 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,” he said in a statement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Closed-door proceedings<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Spavor was first arrested in 2018, just days after Ms Meng was detained – and was later charged with espionage. His first trial, which took place in March, ended with no verdict.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Canadian diplomats including the charge d’affaires to China were then denied entry to the court.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Spavor is a founding member of the Paektu Cultural Exchange, an organisation which facilitates international business and cultural ties with North Korea.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Canadian ambassador to China Dominic Barton said he “condemned” the conviction.<\/div>\n
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“There is the opportunity for an appeal,” he told reporters outside the court, according to a report by AFP.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Separately, Michael Kovrig – who faces the same charges – also went to trial in March, though no verdict has been announced.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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