Hundreds of people demonstrated Sunday, September 5 in Ottawa in support of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, to mark the thousandth day of the detention denounced as "
unjust
" of these two men in China.
Read alsoIn China, the weapon of justice against Canada
Similar events have been organized elsewhere in Canada but also in Brussels, New York, Washington, Seoul and Singapore, according to Michael Kovrig's wife, Vina Nadjibulla.
Former diplomat Michael Kovrig and consultant Michael Spavor were arrested in December 2018 in China for espionage, causing an unprecedented diplomatic crisis between Ottawa and Beijing. Their detention is seen by Canada as a retaliatory measure after the arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou at the request of the United States.
Michael Spavor, a businessman, and former diplomat Michael Kovrig have both been on trial. Michael Spavor was sentenced to 11 years in prison, a verdict deemed "
absolutely unacceptable
" by Ottawa. No decision has yet been announced in Michael Kovrig's case. "
These are unfair detentions
," Michael Kovrig's wife Vina Nadjibulla said at the rally in Ottawa.
"
These marches are in solidarity with our Michael
", to "
pay tribute to their strength and resilience and also to call for action to finally break the deadlock, bring them home and do whatever is possible to end to this injustice,
”she said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday condemned what he called “
arbitrary detentions
” by China and said the United States was “
on Canada's side
”.
7000 symbolic steps
"
The international community calls on the PRC to release, immediately and unconditionally, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig,
" he said in a statement, referring to the People's Republic of China.
Beijing said Monday that the Chinese Meng Wanzhou was in this story the "
real victim
".
A spokesman for Chinese diplomacy, Wang Wenbin, thus urged Canada to "
release
" the cadre of Huawei and "
allow its safe return to China
".
Read also Meng Wanzhou, the "prisoner" who angered China and Canada
Canadian Foreign Minister Marc Garneau, as well as several opposition politicians and the United States Ambassador to Canada attended the demonstration in Ottawa on Sunday. Participants took 7,000 steps to remind everyone that Michael Kovrig was trying to reach that number every day "
in his little windowless cell
," according to his wife. “
He takes these 7000 steps in a circle, often holding a book, reading, reciting songs, prayers - 5 kilometers of courage and reflection. And today, he will not be alone in this march,
”she said.