(Ottawa) After 1019 days spent behind bars in China, Michael Kovrig thought his ordeal was finally over. Now it is being prolonged due to the espionage allegations made by Michael Spavor.
“I have never been involved in espionage activities,” says the former employee of the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement sent to The Press.
The Chinese regime itself has not made “any allegation that I was an intelligence agent, nor did it mention Michael Spavor”, notes the man who regained his freedom in 2021.
And so, learning in the pages of Globe and Mail that the other of the “two Michaels” accused him of being at the origin of their arrest, and that he had also retained the services of a lawyer, plunged him back into the nightmare.
We and our families suffered terribly during the 1019 days of our detention. Repeating these allegations about the reasons for our detention only prolongs the pain that we are striving to overcome.
Michael Kovrig
Michael Kovrig served as a diplomat for Canada in China from 2014 to 2016. One of his mandates was to work with Chinese authorities to get the North Koreans to stop developing and contributing to the proliferation of weapons nuclear.
A compatriot had just arrived in Pyongyang: Michael Spavor, one of whose feats of arms is the organization of the meeting between Kim Jong-un and the basketball player Dennis Rodman.
So the diplomat met with the entrepreneur, because better understanding North Korea involves speaking with people who knew the country well, doing analysis and making recommendations.
“Any insinuation that I was not transparent in my interactions with Michael Spavor is false,” insists the man who returned to the employ of the International Crisis Group (ICG), where he was when he was arrested in December 2018.
Defend yourself again
His employer brushes aside these allegations. “Michael was a political hostage, arrested and detained by China as part of blackmail against the Government of Canada,” said an ICG spokesperson.
In government, where we could find ourselves with a multi-million dollar lawsuit on our hands, we have not commented directly on the allegations made by the person who is threatening to take these legal steps.
On the other hand, Ottawa warned that this only “fueled the unfounded theory” that China invoked to justify the arbitrary detention of the two Michaels. In Beijing, we were quick to jump at the opportunity to reiterate it.
This is also what Michael Kovrig argues. This is what he pleaded again and again in the Chinese jail where he languished for almost three years of his life, after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, at the request of the United States.
“Although I was subjected to months of detention, coercion, interrogation, psychological torture, loneliness and uncertainty, I always maintained my innocence upon my arrest and again during my trial “, he emphasizes.
“I continue to do it today,” he laments.
In the Globe and Mailon November 18, the lawyer whose services Michael Kovrig retained, John Kingman Philipps, alleges that his client was arrested by China because of the information he allegedly transmitted about the North Korean regime.
However, before being singled out by the Chinese authorities on December 10, 2018, the same China “gave me no indication that my work and my travels in China could pose a problem,” defends the former diplomat.
As proof, he points out that in October of the same year, that is to say less than two months before his incarceration, he had been invited to take part in the 8e Xiangshan Forum, in Beijing, as a panelist.
Difficult return to normal
China has always denied that Michael Kovrig was a political hostage. In September 2021, Chinese state media reported that he admitted to engaging in espionage. “This is completely false. This is not the case,” assures Michael Kovrig.
In the end, he became a free man again. Within hours of the release of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, a government plane brought the two Michaels home.
Although he remained discreet afterwards, we still saw him receive a huge ovation in the House of Commons – alongside his companion in misfortune – during the visit of American President Joe Biden, in last March.
Last September, at the United Nations, he participated in a high-level dialogue on arbitrary detention convened by Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
He has not yet wished to speak publicly about what he experienced in detention, or to explain the difficult conditions in which he was detained. This painful chapter reopens with the allegations of Michael Spavor.
“During his incarceration, Michael demonstrated extraordinary fortitude and character,” said the ICG, which worked tirelessly for his release, in a statement. of his former partner, Vina Nadjibulla.
“He has earned the respect of people all over the world. We believe he has also earned the right to a degree of discretion and space to move on with his life,” the organization concluded.
Michael Spavor’s lawyer claimed the same thing. “We ask you to respect [sa] privacy and to forward any request to our office,” said Mr.e Kingman Phillips.