BEIJING: China has strongly condemned “smears and lies” and defended the three-year detention of former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig after he accused Beijing of psychological torture during his imprisonment in the country.
Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, were detained by China in December 2018 on charges of espionage soon after the arrest in Vancouver of Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, on a US warrant.
All three of them were released in September 2021.
Kovrig, during an interview with Canadian broadcaster CBC, said that he was held in solitary confinement and that guards tried to bully and terrorise him during his detention in Beijing.
“The United Nations standard is no more than 15 days in solitary confinement. More than that is considered psychological torture. I was there for nearly six months,” he said.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian, when asked about Kovrig’s claims at a regular briefing, said China is a country under the rule of law. “Lies and smears cannot change the fact that the person you mentioned broke the law and committed crimes,” he said.
Kovrig told CBC his detention was absolutely, the most gruelling, painful thing he had ever been through.
“It’s a combination of… total isolation and relentless interrogation for six to nine hours every day, on and on and on,” he said.