OTTAWA -- On the grim two-year anniversary of Michael Kovrig’s imprisonment in China, his wife says she worries most about the state of his mental health heading into yet another holiday season alone.
"Here we are, two years later, still speaking about him being in detention. None of us would have imagined this was going to be the case," said Vina Nadjibulla in an interview on CTV’s Power Play on Thursday.
"I hoped sincerely that Michael would be home by now and instead he’s facing a prospect of his third Christmas alone, in isolation, in detention."
Kovrig, a former diplomat, and fellow Canadian Michael Spavor were arrested in China on Dec. 10, 2018, and charged with allegations of state spying for Canada. The Canadian government calls their detention arbitrary, while most in the diplomatic community view it as retaliation for the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou days prior in Vancouver on a U.S. extradition request.
Consular access has been limited throughout the pandemic; the two men went 10 months without communication with Canadian representatives.
"Our contact has been very limited between January and October. There were no consular visits, there were very few letters from Michael. Finally, in October we were able to get a consular visit and at least confirmation and a reassurance that he is still healthy and is doing well," said Nadjibulla, who is married to Kovrig but separated.
Canada’s Ambassador to China Dominic Barton who is leading the effort to secure Kovrig and Spavor’s release, told a House of Commons committee this week that the two men looked "robust" and that one "would be very impressed by seeing both of them."
Nadjibulla called that long-awaited visit this fall a "huge relief" but notes she remains deeply concerned about his mental health.
"Michael is doing everything he possibly can to keep his mind occupied with positive thoughts, with virtuous thoughts, with prayers of gratitude, with philosophical passages. Reading really provides him solace day-to-day, he essentially says that is what gets him through moment-to-moment, is being able to read and have access to books, which we’ve been advocating for quite a bit," said Nadjibulla.
The Liberal government remains adamant it’s doing all it can to free the men, despite opposition criticism that Ottawa has been "kowtowing" to China over the last several years.
"Today is the sad anniversary of the illegal abduction and imprisonment of two innocent Canadians in China," said Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole during a press conference on Thursday.
"For months China has unfairly targeted our farming exports. For years, the Chinese Communist Party has been carrying out mass internment of the Uighurs in concentration camps and still the Liberals keep pushing for more involvement and more engagement with China."
Optimism sparked last week when the Wall Street Journal reported the U.S. Justice Department was in talks with Meng’s legal team to resolve her fraud charges and allow her to return home should she admit to criminal wrongdoing. It led to speculation that the arrangement could pave a way for Kovrig and Spavor’s freedom.
Nadjibulla says, more broadly, she was left hopeful after hearing that during the first call between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden the leaders discussed the fate of the two men.
"I pray that we will be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel," she said.
With a file from The Canadian Press.
