The federal government would be ready to offer $3 million to Michael Spavor and the same to Michael Kovrig to compensate them for the three years they spent in detention in China and to avoid possible prosecution.
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At least that’s what the Globe and Mail Tuesday based on two unnamed federal sources.
According to the daily, Ottawa would seek to conclude an agreement with the two Michaels at the start of 2024. The sources of the World pointed out that Mr. Spavor’s lawyer, for his part, would claim up to $10.5 million for his client.
The feds are reportedly concerned about a possible prosecution of Mr. Spavor over the management of Global Affairs Canada’s Global Security Reporting Program, a program Mr. Kovrig worked for while he was a diplomat for Canada .
Michael Spavor believes he was arrested by Chinese authorities for unknowingly disclosing information to Michael Kovrig, who then passed it on to the government.
Recall that the two Canadians were arrested in December 2018, in the days following the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, then financial director of the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei, in Vancouver, at the request of American authorities. China had accused them of being spies, while the Canadian government had denounced arbitrary arrests.
The two men were finally released in September 2021, shortly after the United States abandoned their prosecution and, consequently, the extradition procedure against Meng Wanzhou.