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the article is few months old that is why I edited the title of the thread a little.
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Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor mark 600 days in detention in China
Less than two weeks after Chinese authorities formally charged two Canadians with espionage, Ambassador Dominic Barton travelled nearly 700 kilometres from Beijing, hoping to end a half year of being barred from seeing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.
The unusual Canada Day trip brought Mr. Barton to Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning province. Mr. Spavor has been held in the province since Chinese agents seized him and Mr. Kovrig on Dec. 10, 2018. Saturday will mark 600 days of detention for the men, who have been held in facilities where they are barred from seeing family – Mr. Kovrig in Beijing and Mr. Spavor in Dandong, the Liaoning city on the border with North Korea.
Mr. Barton’s trip to Shenyang marked a new effort to prod decision-makers into allowing him to see Mr. Spavor. The ambassador went directly to the High People’s Court in the city to deliver reading materials and a letter for Mr. Spavor – and to personally request access to the detained Canadian.
The effort achieved nothing tangible. Mr. Barton delivered the materials, but returned to Beijing still unable to meet Mr. Spavor. It has now been 6½ months since the detained businessman and Mr. Kovrig, a former diplomat, have seen a Canadian official.
For the families of the detainees, that has added to frustrations that have accumulated over the lengthening course of their detention.
“I’m obviously not giving up hope,” said Bennett Kovrig, Mr. Kovrig’s father. “But I can, of course, feel angry and disappointed at the inability of the different powers that be to secure his release.”
From the beginning, Mr. Kovrig’s family has “argued that every day Michael spends in this detention is unnecessary, unjust and must come to an end,” said Vina Nadjibulla, who is married to Mr. Kovrig and has been an advocate for his release, although the two are separated.
“Six hundred days is another sobering and difficult milestone. It’s 600 days too many. And I hope it will give people a sense of renewed urgency and resolve to find a resolution to the situation.”
Mr. Kovrig’s isolation has extended beyond the forced halt to consular visits. Chinese authorities have also slowed the exchange of letters with his family, as well as the reading materials they send him. Since January, there have been only two such exchanges, one around Easter and another in June.
The sole outside visit to Mr. Kovrig in the past half-year has come from his Chinese lawyer, who visited in July.
“On the past record, the Chinese authorities obtain something like 99 per cent of convictions. So that would suggest that the outcome is preordained,” Bennett Kovrig said.
The family helped to co-ordinate pressure on the federal government, urging Ottawa to consider intervening in Ms. Meng’s case with the powers it is granted by the country’s extradition law. Nineteen prominent Canadians, including former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour and former Liberal foreign-affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy, signed a letter that said allowing Ms. Meng to continue through lengthy extradition proceedings will “add immeasurably to the stress” for Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor, who are likely to “remain in their Chinese prison cells until Meng is free to return to China.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rebuffed that entreaty, saying Canada “cannot allow political pressures or random arrests of Canadian citizens to influence the functioning of our justice system.”
That stance has not sat well with Bennett Kovrig, who accused the Trudeau government of a “historic mistake. History will judge them for it.”
www.theglobeandmail.com
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an interview with Kovrig's wife:-
she said Kovrig described his detention in an old letter as "hell".
his wife called on the Canadian government to trade Meng for the two Michaels yet Trudeau dismissed such calls, so basicaly Trudeah has said something like: 'I don' t give a flying f*** about two randomly detained Canadian citizens, I only follow the orders of my orange master'.
___________________________________
Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor mark 600 days in detention in China
Less than two weeks after Chinese authorities formally charged two Canadians with espionage, Ambassador Dominic Barton travelled nearly 700 kilometres from Beijing, hoping to end a half year of being barred from seeing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.
The unusual Canada Day trip brought Mr. Barton to Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning province. Mr. Spavor has been held in the province since Chinese agents seized him and Mr. Kovrig on Dec. 10, 2018. Saturday will mark 600 days of detention for the men, who have been held in facilities where they are barred from seeing family – Mr. Kovrig in Beijing and Mr. Spavor in Dandong, the Liaoning city on the border with North Korea.
Mr. Barton’s trip to Shenyang marked a new effort to prod decision-makers into allowing him to see Mr. Spavor. The ambassador went directly to the High People’s Court in the city to deliver reading materials and a letter for Mr. Spavor – and to personally request access to the detained Canadian.
The effort achieved nothing tangible. Mr. Barton delivered the materials, but returned to Beijing still unable to meet Mr. Spavor. It has now been 6½ months since the detained businessman and Mr. Kovrig, a former diplomat, have seen a Canadian official.
For the families of the detainees, that has added to frustrations that have accumulated over the lengthening course of their detention.
“I’m obviously not giving up hope,” said Bennett Kovrig, Mr. Kovrig’s father. “But I can, of course, feel angry and disappointed at the inability of the different powers that be to secure his release.”
From the beginning, Mr. Kovrig’s family has “argued that every day Michael spends in this detention is unnecessary, unjust and must come to an end,” said Vina Nadjibulla, who is married to Mr. Kovrig and has been an advocate for his release, although the two are separated.
“Six hundred days is another sobering and difficult milestone. It’s 600 days too many. And I hope it will give people a sense of renewed urgency and resolve to find a resolution to the situation.”
Mr. Kovrig’s isolation has extended beyond the forced halt to consular visits. Chinese authorities have also slowed the exchange of letters with his family, as well as the reading materials they send him. Since January, there have been only two such exchanges, one around Easter and another in June.
The sole outside visit to Mr. Kovrig in the past half-year has come from his Chinese lawyer, who visited in July.
“On the past record, the Chinese authorities obtain something like 99 per cent of convictions. So that would suggest that the outcome is preordained,” Bennett Kovrig said.
The family helped to co-ordinate pressure on the federal government, urging Ottawa to consider intervening in Ms. Meng’s case with the powers it is granted by the country’s extradition law. Nineteen prominent Canadians, including former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour and former Liberal foreign-affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy, signed a letter that said allowing Ms. Meng to continue through lengthy extradition proceedings will “add immeasurably to the stress” for Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor, who are likely to “remain in their Chinese prison cells until Meng is free to return to China.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rebuffed that entreaty, saying Canada “cannot allow political pressures or random arrests of Canadian citizens to influence the functioning of our justice system.”
That stance has not sat well with Bennett Kovrig, who accused the Trudeau government of a “historic mistake. History will judge them for it.”
Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor mark 600 days in detention in China
Saturday marks 600 days since Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were detained, and six weeks since they were formally charged with espionage
www.theglobeandmail.com
an interview with Kovrig's wife:-
his wife called on the Canadian government to trade Meng for the two Michaels yet Trudeau dismissed such calls, so basicaly Trudeah has said something like: 'I don' t give a flying f*** about two randomly detained Canadian citizens, I only follow the orders of my orange master'.
