China's Secretive Prosecution Of Two Canadians 'completely Unacceptable': Trudeau

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reacted angrily Friday to China's two-year detention and closed-door trial for a Canadian man on espionage charges and the pending prosecution of another, saying it is "completely unacceptable."

Ottawa, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Mar, 2021 ):Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reacted angrily Friday to China's two-year detention and closed-door trial for a Canadian man on espionage charges and the pending prosecution of another, saying it is "completely unacceptable." "Let me be very clear," the Canadian leader told a news conference after an almost three-hour trial of Michael Spavor, one of two Canadians detained by Beijing. "Their arbitrary detention is completely unacceptable, as is the lack of transparency around these court proceedings." Spavor's compatriot Michael Kovrig is scheduled to go to trial on Monday.

The pair were detained in December 2018 in apparent retaliation for Canada's arrest on a US warrant of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou nine days earlier.

The two Canadian men were formally charged with spying last June -- allegations that Trudeau has dismissed as "trumped up." China denied any link between the two cases, which have plunged bilateral relations to their lowest in decades.

Diplomats and media were barred from attending Spavor's trial earlier in Dandong, where Canadian diplomats were joined by envoys from eight other nations including the United States, France and Australia outside the courthouse.

The verdict remains unknown.