Canadian PM Justin Trudeau has announced that Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. who had been in custody in China, were flying back home. Beijing alleged the men were spies hunting for China’s state secrets.
“About 12 minutes ago, the aircraft carrying Michael Kovrig and Micheal Spavor left Chinese airspace and they are on the way home,” Trudeau announced in a televised statement late on Friday.
The announcement came hours after Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou was released from Canadian custody after striking a deal with the US prosecution.
BREAKING – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Michael Kovrig and Micheal Spavor are on a plane back to Canada right now. After a 1000+ days in a Chinese prison, the two Michaels are on their way back home #cdnpolihttps://t.co/0RD39Rv075pic.twitter.com/mQw0h1xTqC
The China-bound plane carrying Meng as well as the one carrying the two Canadians apparently departed from their respective airports around the same time.
Trudeau revealed that Kovrig and Spavor boarded the plane about 7:30pm Ottawa time (23:30 GMT), while Meng’s Air China aircraft reportedly took off from a Vancouver International Airport at around 4:35pm local time (23:35 GMT).
An Air China plane carrying Meng Wanzhou has taken off from Vancouver's YVR airport.
Spavor and Kovrig were detained in December 2018, shortly after Meng was arrested in Vancouver at the US' request. She faced an array of charges, including allegedly conspiring to violate US trade sanctions on Iran. As part of the deal with prosecutors, Meng pleaded not guilty. The 4-year arrangement, known as a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA), was started retroactively from the day of her initial arrest in Canada on December 1, 2018.
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