The trial of Michael Kovrig, the Canadian detained for more than two years in China on charges of espionage, began this morning at the Intermediate Peoplès Court in Beijing, a few days after the similar proceeding which took place in Dandong. against compatriot Michael Spavor. At the hearing, also in this case, access to journalists and especially diplomats was denied after several attempts, as allowed by international law. A court spokesman cited Article 188 of the Chinese Criminal Procedure Code, which requires a closed-door trial for cases involving “national secrets”, to justify the move.
Kovrig and Spavor, a former diplomat and a businessman respectively, have been under arrest since December 2018, in what is seen by observers as a true retaliation by China for the arrest at the request of the US in Vancouver at the beginning of the year. same month of Meng Wanzhou, financial director of Huawei, for the violation of the American sanctions on Iran.
Jim Nickel, Chargé d’affaires at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, reported outside the court that “access had been denied” and that 28 diplomats were expected to represent 26 countries, almost all European, including Italy, plus USA, Australia and New Zealand. “We are very concerned about the lack of access and the lack of transparency in the process,” he added. The United States is “deeply concerned about the lack of minimum procedural protections afforded to the two Canadian citizens,” said William Klein, deputy head of mission at the US embassy in Beijing.
Last week, after the closed-door hearing, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau returned to the attack, calling the detention of the two men “completely unacceptable, as well as the lack of transparency regarding these judicial proceedings”. a crisis between Ottawa and Beijing that has brought bilateral relations to the lowest in recent decades. China reiterated its position: the arrest of the two Canadian citizens is legal, while that of Meng is “a purely political accident”.
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