Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, and Michael Spavor, an entrepreneur, were arrested in December 2018, days after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was detained in Vancouver, British Columbia. The U.S. wants her extradited to face fraud charges related to her company’s dealings with IranKovrig and Spavor face spying accusations, and the Canadian Embassy in Beijing has been notified that court hearings for the two are scheduled to take place Friday and Monday.
“The official notification received from Chinese authorities indicated that these trials are closed to both the public and the media. Despite several official requests to Chinese authorities, Canadian officials have not yet received permission to attend the trials,” Global Affairs spokesperson Christelle Chartrand said. “We remain deeply troubled by the lack of transparency surrounding these proceedings.”
