Last Updated on: 2nd September 2021, 02:28 pm
Who is Michael Spavor of Canada? Biography, Wiki
Michael Spavor is a Canadian citizen imprisoned in China accused of taking military photographs.
Chinese state media have accused detainee Spavor of providing photos of military equipment to Michael Kovrig as part of repeated acts of espionage and of providing scant details about the allegations against the two men.
Michael Spavor’s Age
His age isn’t unclear yet.
Why Was Michael Spavor Arrested?
China arrested the two men in December 2018, shortly after Canadian police arrested Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese tech giant Huawei, with a US arrest warrant and charged him with sanctions-related fraud.
China, which denies allegations that the two Canadians’ cases are related to Meng’s, has released few details about the two cases.
Last month, a court sentenced Spavor to 11 years in prison on espionage charges, resulting in convictions in the United States and Canada.
Ottawa accused China of participating in “hostage diplomacy”.
Kovrig’s espionage trial ended in March and the verdict is due to arrive on an unspecified date.
The Global Times is published by the People’s Daily of the ruling Communist Party.
In Canada, a judge is due to rule on Meng’s case on 21st October.
Michael Spavor Jailed By Chinese Court
Canadian citizen Michael Spavor, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in China for espionage last month, allegedly took photos and videos of military equipment and possibly handed them over to fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig, a newspaper reported Wednesday.
As per the article in the Global Times, a nationalist People’s Daily tabloid, an anonymous source said that Mr. Spavor “took photos and videos of Chinese military equipment on several occasions and illegally shared some of those photos with people outside of China.”
Michael Spavor Trial
Canada and other governments have characterized the men’s lengthy trials as arbitrary detention, a lack of transparency, and a failure to comply with international judicial standards.
The arrests were labeled “hostage diplomacy” in retaliation for the arrest of Meng, the chief financial officer of tech giant Huawei, days earlier.
Meng, the daughter of Huawei’s founder, was charged in business with violating US sanctions against Iran and arrested on behalf of US authorities in Canada.
China denies the arrest of Spavor and Kovrig, and the increased sentence for compatriot Robert Schellenberg was retaliation, but also repeatedly links his freedom to Meng’s case.
The Global Times article also traces back to Spavor’s accusations of discussing the Meng case and alleges that the Chinese ambassador to Canada, Cong Peiwu, spoke with him by phone “to express his condolences and denounce the Canadian government’s wrongdoing.”
Richardson called the inclusion ‘instructive’ and noted the ‘matching’ requirements inherent in the cases.
“It shows that it is about politics, not law,” he said.
