Beijing: Canadian businessman Michael Spavor has been jailed for 11 years in China after a court there found him guilty of spying. The development came a day after the death sentence imposed on another Canadian national was upheld in China.
A court in the Chinese city of Dandong convicted Spavor of spying and illegally providing state secrets to other nations.
The Canadian government, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has repeatedly said the detention of Spavor and also that of former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig were a case of “hostage diplomacy”.
PM Trudeau has condemned the handling of Spavor’s case as “unacceptable and unjust”, according to a report.
The latest verdict came as the trial hearing for the extradition of Meng Wanzhou, CFO of Chinese telecom giant Huawei, approaches it conclusion this month. Meng was arrested in Vancouver in December 2018 on charges of attempting to defraud a bank to bypass sanctions on the Iranian regime. Spavor and Kovrig were detained in China days later.
Comments are closed.