A court in Dandong found businessman Michael Spavor guilty after he had been imprisoned since December 2018.
On Wednesday, a Chinese court found Canadian billionaire Michael Spavor guilty of espionage and sentenced him to 11 years in jail, a decision that is expected to exacerbate already strained relations between China and Canada.
Spavor, who conducted a travel and cultural exchange company between China and North Korea for years, “was convicted of spying and unlawfully supplying state secrets,” according to a statement from Dandong city’s Intermediate People’s Court.
“He was given an 11-year sentence.”
Spavor’s closed-door trial in March lasted little over two hours, and the court stated he will be deported as well, but did not specify when, and seized some of his personal items.
Spavor was one of two Canadians imprisoned in China in December 2018, shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, the Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei’s top financial officer, in response to a US extradition request.
Michael Kovrig, an International Crisis Group analyst, is likewise accused of espionage and was prosecuted shortly after Spavor in March. He is currently awaiting the outcome of his case.
The detentions are connected to Meng Wanzhou’s case, which China denies.
Over a video chat with media, Canada’s ambassador to China, Dominic Barton, expressed disappointment with the verdict and stated that Spavor and Kovrig were being detained unjustly.
