Prosecutors from Dandong City indicted on Friday Kevin Garratt, a Canadian man who operates a café in China. He was accused of stealing state secrets and spying.
According to the prosecutors, Garratt – arrested in August 2014 – accepted orders from Canadian spy agencies to gather intelligence in China, reported Xinhua News Agency. But Simeon Garratt, Vancouver-based son of Kevin, said the charges were crazy and wildly absurd.
Besides Kevin, his wife Julia was also detained, but she was eventually released. Julia is not allowed to leave China. But Charles Burton, an ex-diplomat and professor at Block University, said the indictment could begin the process to deport the couple.
Simeon said that the two are openly Christian and were part of a mission that sends food aid to North Korea. He added that the charges were just made up. Peter's Coffee House, the Christian café that Kevin runs, is located near the North Korean border in Liaoning Province.
However, a spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry insisted Garrett’s case is not linked to his Christian faith. “China’s judicial authorities will handle the case strictly according to law and Kevin Garratt’s legal rights will be fully guaranteed,” Reuters quoted Hua Chunying, the spokeswoman of the ministry.
A spokesperson from Global Affairs Canada said that Ottawa is concerned with Garratt’s indictment and discussing the case with Chinese officials. Assistance to the couple, who are under house arrest, is also being given by Canadian consular officials.
The spokesperson said that it would urge the Canadian government to use all available diplomatic means to help the couple.
Curiously, the Garretts were arrested just days after Chinese hackers were accused of breaking into a key computer network in Canada. Garrett was indicted, ironically, while China was hosting a party in Canada to mark 45 years of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Ottawa and Beijing. It was established by then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, the father of current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who was in the party hosted by China.
Canada’s Conservative Party seized the indictment as an opportunity to hit the prime minister. In a statement, the party said, “It is the height of irony, that as the Prime Minister … (was) celebrating with Chinese diplomats at an event in Ottawa last night, Kevin Garratt sat in a Chinese jail.”