Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor have landed safely back in Canada after spending more than 1,000 days in detention in China.
The two men were greeted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after they landed in Calgary on Saturday morning, Global News has confirmed.
Trudeau announced on Friday night that the two men had been released and were on their way back having boarded a plane with Canada’s ambassador to China Dominic Barton.
“Welcome home, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor,” the prime minister said on Twitter.
“You’ve shown incredible strength, resilience, and perseverance. Know that Canadians across the country will continue to be here for you, just as they have been.”
Trudeau pictured early on Saturday after welcoming the ‘Two Michaels’ in Calgary.
Global News
Canada’s foreign affairs minister, Marc Garneau, thanked international partners for helping secure their release.
“We are inspired by the courage and resilience they have shown during this long ordeal,” he wrote on Twitter.
Trudeau’s announcement on Friday came hours after Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was released from house arrest in Vancouver and allowed to return home to China after securing a deal to drop U.S. charges against her.
As part of the new deferred prosecution agreement, Meng pleaded not guilty to charges that she committed fraud by misleading the HSBC bank about the company’s business dealings in Iran.
Kovrig, a former diplomat, and businessman Spavor were detained in China days after Meng was arrested at Vancouver’s airport in December 2018 on behalf of the United States.
The two men were convicted on espionage charges in separate trials earlier this year. Spavor was later sentenced to 11 years in prison, while a sentence had yet to be issued for Kovrig.
Canada has repeatedly demanded China release the pair, saying they were arbitrarily detained on bogus charges.
While China has denied that Kovrig and Spavor’s arrests were a retaliatory measure, officials had also suggested that the pair could be released if Meng is allowed to return home to China and the case against her is dropped.
“These two men have gone through an unbelievably difficult ordeal,” Trudeau said during a news conference Friday.
“It is good news for all of us that they are on their way home to their families.”
News of their release was welcomed with a mix of surprise and relief.
Jacco Zwetsloot, a long-time friend of Spavor who lives in Seoul, South Korea, said he did not expect the two men to be freed so quickly after Meng’s release.
Wife of Michael Kovrig, Vina Nadjibulla (L) and his sister Ariana Botha speak to the media outside Toronto airport before seeing Michael in Toronto, Ontario, on September 25, 2021.
Photo by LARS HAGBERG/AFP via Getty Images
“That was beyond my wildest imaginings,” he told Global News. “It was incredible news.”
“I’m just glad that the process is over and that Michael’s ordeal was over and that he’s back with his family in Calgary.”
Jonathan Dunbar, another one of Spavor’s friends, said “this whole thing ended as suddenly as it began”.
Dunbar, who first met Spavor back in 2006, said he was curious to hear from his friend what he went through over last three years in China.
“I want to know what happened, what he experienced, what his side to all these experiences were,” he told Global News.
Michael Kovrig embraces his wife Vina Nadjibulla, left, after arriving at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
– With files from Global News’ Bryan Mullan, Jeff Semple, Sean Boynton
© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
