One of two Canadians imprisoned in China for nearly three years, Michael Spavor, accuses his fellow inmate, Michael Kovrig, of being behind their arrest because of his work which benefited Canadian intelligence services and its allies.
Daily life The Globe and Mail revealed Saturday morning, according to several sources, that Michael Spavor is seeking compensation from the Canadian government for several million dollars. To this end, he reportedly hired Toronto lawyer John K. Phillips, who formerly represented Omar Khadr, to engage in private discussions with the Department of Justice and Global Affairs Canada.
PHOTO ARCHIVES ASSOCIATED PRESS
Michael Kovrig
Fluent in Korean, Michael Spavor is part of a very select club of Westerners who have already met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and several of his high-ranking ministers. He notably participated in organizing the meeting between the dictator and former basketball player Dennis Rodman.
However, according to the sources of Globe and Mail, his lawyer claims he was arrested by China because of information he allegedly shared with Michael Kovrig about the North Korean regime. Information which would then have been transmitted without Michel Spavor’s knowledge to the Canadian government and its Five Eyes partners.
Not secret agents
That’s because at the time, Michael Kovrig was working in China as a diplomat for the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Global Security Reporting Program. Its employees are responsible for collecting information and producing reports on the security situation in countries of strategic importance to Canada.
Considered valuable, these reports would then be shared with Canada’s security allies. However, employees of the program, like Michael Kovrig, are not considered secret agents and are not supposed to manage, recruit or pay human sources, says the Globe and Mail.
China arrested the two men in December 2018 on espionage allegations, following the arrest of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in Canada at the request of US authorities.
The two men returned to Canada, after more than 1,000 days of detention, in September 2021.
PHOTO FRANK GUNN, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Michael Kovrig (center) with his wife Vina Nadjibulla (left) and sister Ariana Botha after arriving at Toronto Pearson Airport on September 25, 2021.
Accused of espionage
Michael Spavor has been accused in China of spying for a foreign entity and illegally obtaining state secrets. Michael Kovrig was accused of illegally receiving state secrets and intelligence in collaboration with his co-detainee.
During his detention, Michael Spavor was allegedly forced to sit in a chair for long hours in addition to being threatened with death by the Chinese authorities. It was then that he admitted to having shared information with Michael Kovrig, again according to a source cited by the Globe and Mail.
A representative of the Canadian government daily refuted allegations presented by Michael Spavor’s lawyer that Chinese authorities arrested the two men because Michael Kovrig was allegedly negligent. Their arrests were “completely arbitrary” and were not due to “the actions of one against the other,” said this source, still on condition of anonymity because they would not be authorized to speak about the case. publicly.
Neither Michael Spavor nor his lawyer responded to questions from Globe and Mail. In a written statement, Michael Kovrig said he “was a foreign service officer assigned to China as a diplomat, working in accordance with the laws, rules and regulations governing diplomats.”