A Chinese court on Wednesday jailed Canadian businessman Michael Spavor for eleven years for spying, a sentence hastily condemned via way of means of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as "unacceptable and unjust."
Spavor became detained in 2018 in conjunction with compatriot Michael Kovrig on what Ottawa has stated are politically orchestrated expenses after Huawei government Meng Wanzhou became arrested in Canada on a US extradition warrant.
Relations among the 2 nations have hit rock bottom, with China additionally accusing Canada of politicising criminal cases.
Spavor "was convicted of espionage and illegally providing state secrets", Dandong city's Intermediate People's Court said in a statement. "He was sentenced to 11 years in prison."
'I want to get home'
The Canadian ambassador to China, who was present in the courtroom for the verdict, linked the verdict and the upholding on Tuesday of the death sentence against another national to Meng's ongoing hearings in Vancouver.
"I don't take it as a coincidence that we have heard the verdicts of these two cases while that trial is going on," Dominic Barton told reporters.
In a message relayed in a consular visit after the sentencing, Spavor said: "Thank you for all your support. I am in good spirits. I want to get home."
Trudeau called the conviction and sentencing "absolutely unacceptable and unjust." "The verdict for Mr Spavor comes after greater than two-and-a-1/2 years of arbitrary detention, a loss of transparency withinside the felony process, and a tribulation that did now no longer fulfil even the minimal requirements required via way of means of global law," he stated in a statement.
Spavor can attraction the sentence, which Ambassador Barton stated turned into passed down after prosecutors confirmed the courtroom docket proof such as pics "at airports... locations wherein one ought to now no longer take pics and there were a few that protected a few navy aircraft."