Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized the Chinese government's lack of transparency in the handling of the two arbitrarily detained Canadians—Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig.
No verdict was released from the closed-door trial of Michael Spavor earlier on Friday, who was locked up and charged with espionage by Chinese authorities in December of 2018 in what many see as retaliation for Canada's arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou just 9 days before.
“Let me be very clear: Their arbitrary detention is completely unacceptable—as is the lack of transparency around these court proceedings,” says PM Justin Trudeau as the two Michaels face hearings in China. “Our top priority remains securing their release,” says the PM.#cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/DD1DrLCtaH
— CPAC (@CPAC_TV) March 19, 2021
Kovrig is being held at a different location than Spavor. His trial will commence on Monday.
"Let me be very clear; their arbitrary detention is completely unacceptable, as is the lack of transparency around these court proceedings. Our top priority remains securing their release. We will continue to work tirelessly to bring them home as soon as possible," said Trudeau during a press conference on Friday.
Trudeau thanked international partners and allies for "solidarity and support," saying his government will be in close contact with the families of the two Michaels.
In June of 2020, a Chinese spokesperson said that the release of Huawei's Meng Wanzhou back to China could improve the fate of the Canadians.
“No. We’re not considering that.”
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) June 22, 2020
Trudeau says Canada will not hand over Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou in exchange for Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.
Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/IrzupBMjlc
On whether or not Trudeau was considering trading Meng for the two Michaels, Trudeau gave a firm "no," citing Canada's "strong and independent justice system."
Trudeau can't say for sure whether trials are fair or not
When asked whether he believed the two Michaels were getting a fair trial, Trudeau cited the challenges brought upon by the lack of transparency in making that call.
"One of the challenges around the lack of transparency on that process is that it becomes extremely difficult to make judgements around whether or not the trial was fair," said the prime minister. "I can certainly say that in Canada, we're a country of an independent justice system that values transparency as part of the process, in terms of insuring justice is fair and done properly. I'm going to continue to advocate for the release of these two Michaels, who have been arbitrarily detained and push for transparency."
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