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The conditions of detention of the two Canadians incarcerated in China since December 10, 2018 have nothing to do with those of the Huawei leader, under house arrest in her Vancouver villa. Officially unrelated, their detention is considered a retaliation of Beijing against Ottawa, observers said.
It has been a year to the day that two Canadians are arbitrarily incarcerated in China. Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were arrested following the arrest of Huawei's CFO, Meng Wanzhou . The two detainees, former diplomat and businessman respectively, face very rudimentary living conditions in their Chinese cells.
" A geopolitical game of China with the life of Michael Kovrig "
Michael Kovrig " Has no access to a lawyer or his family," RFI spokesman Karim Lebhour, spokesperson for the International Crisis Group, for whom the former diplomat was working in China, told RFI. It only has access once a month to consular visits by Canadian authorities. And we do not know much about his life in prison, that's what worries us. At one point, the light was lit 24 hours a day in his cell. "
" He should never have been imprisoned," he continues. Michael [Kovrig] was arrested and imprisoned by the Chinese authorities because he is Canadian because he was in Beijing that day , nine days after Ms. Huang's arrest in Canada in the Huawei case. And that's the only reason he's imprisoned, in our opinion. There is no indication that he is imprisoned for anything other than a geopolitical game, which China is playing with the life of Michael [Kovrig]. "
Officially, Beijing has never made the connection between the two cases. But for Guy Saint-Jacques, former Canadian ambassador to Beijing, quoted by AFP, the " political " dimension of the arrest of his two compatriots is not in doubt. Their fate would be linked to that of Meng Wanzhou, targeted by a request for extradition from Washington , which will be the subject of a hearing on the merits next month. The procedure could last for years.
Radically different conditions of detention
The fate of Meng Wanzhou, on the other hand, is very different. The Chinese woman lives under house arrest in her Vancouver villa. She wears an electronic bracelet on her ankle which allows her to move around the city. " Time is running slowly. I even have time to read books from the first to the last page. I can discuss trivia with colleagues and carefully finish an oil painting, "she confided last week in an open letter to her supporters .
On December 1, 2018, she was arrested at the Vancouver airport at the request of Washington, who suspects her of violating an embargo against Iran. She has since appeared several times before the Canadian courts, defended by an army of lawyers . Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, meanwhile, had to wait five months to be formally placed under arrest for espionage.
No legal proceedings have yet been launched against them. For Guy Saint-Jacques, this may imply that Beijing reserves the possibility to release them in case of arrest of the lawsuits against Meng Wanzhou.
Human rights lawyers also detained in China
Ironically, Beijing is organizing for two days, Monday and Tuesday, a "World Forum of Lawyers." According to the official China New Agency, the idea is to " promote international exchanges " for a " reform of the global system of governance ". To go in which direction? Many human rights lawyers have been arrested in the country, such as Yu Wensheng, charged with " subversion " and locked up for two years.
" Official propaganda has tried to show that lawyers in China have a lot of freedom to practice their profession, but the reality is quite different , denounces his wife Xu Yan at the microphone of RFI. Yu Wensheng's trial took place in February, without the presence of his family and his lawyers. And the court still has not delivered a verdict, 10 months after the hearing ! According to our laws, the verdict should be given no more than two and a half months after the trial. The Chinese judicial authorities must not break their own laws and keep Yu Wensheng in illegal detention. Either they condemn it on time, or they release it. "
►To read: China: Liu Xiaobo's impossible tribute, one year after his death