Canadian Spy Back Home After Two Years

On September 16, Canadian citizen, Kevin Garratt was released after being detained for two years in China. He is now safely back home in Vancouver with his wife, Julia Garratt, and family. Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, assured that there were high levels of security for Garratt’s release offered by the Canadian officials.

Garratt and his wife were charged for spying and stealing state secrets. Xinhua, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said authorities found evidence that involved Garratt gathering intelligence in China for Canadian espionage agencies.

During 1984, Kevin Garratt and Julia Garratt opened a coffee shop in the city Dandong (a city in China that shares a border with North Korea). The couple was detained in August 2014 and accused of stealing Chinese military secrets. After a couple of months, in February 2015, Julia Garratt was released on bail and returned to Canada, leaving Kevin Garratt in China.

Garratt’s family denied any accusations of being involved in espionage. The government also added that there was no evidence that can back up the claims against Garratt. In fact, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Director Michel Coulombe directly told Chinese officials that he [Garratt] was not a part of the spy agency nor worked for the spy agency. About five months ago, Canada’s top spy visited China to meet his counterpart Geng Huichang which supports Garratt’s case.

Currently, Garratt is back with his family and is asking for privacy from the press.