[Reporter: Adrienne Arsenault]
[Adrienne] Michael Kovrig was on leave as a diplomat
and working full-time with the International Crisis Group
on de-escalating global conflicts
when in December of 2018 he was detained in China
on suspicion of endangering national security.
Businessman Michael Spavor was also detained.
Same accusation.
The two Michaels had met in China but they weren't friends.
They were though about to be inextricably linked to each other
and to Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Huawei.
Arrested by Canadian authorities just days earlier
on a request from the United States.
The men held in retaliation for her detention
that was and still is the presumption of many.
It's happened before.
[Prime Minister] We have continued to express our disappointment
with the Chinese decision
with the Chinese detention of these two Canadians.
We will continue to advocate for their release
for their return to Canada.
[Adrienne] Calls for their release have come from around the globe
but one person, fighting perhaps harder than anyone in the world for their freedom
has stayed out of the headlines.
She is Vina Nadjibulla, Kovrig's wife.
They separated before he was detained but she is, as she says, his person.
She's also a geopolitical expert
with nearly two decades worth of experience with the UN
and civil society groups.
She's been banging down the doors of power for every one of the last 560 days.
And while the men have now been charged, she's not finished fighting
she is though finished with being silent.
We met today to talk about saving Michael.
Saving both Michaels.
[Adrienne] So Vina, I know the pandemic is the least of your concerns
but we can't ignore it.
So, I'm sorry we have to be this far apart.
It's OK, I understand.
Better to be safe.
You've been quiet for the entire time of his detention.
Why did you decide to talk now?
What have you been weighing?
[Vina] As Michael's family, we have spent the last 560 days
working closely with the government
with all stakeholders
and focusing on private diplomacy
on behind the scenes efforts
to secure Michael's freedom.
And after, you know, 560 days of patiently waiting and hoping
and a tonne of moments of, OK maybe something will happen.
Maybe something has happened.
We made a decision that it's time for us to speak.
Have you been worried though that speaking would either affect him
or maybe affect your relationship with the government?
Absolutely, since day one our main concern has been do no harm.
Make sure Michael's safety and well-being is number one in our minds.
And do whatever we can to bring him home.
And we've been trusting the government
We've been working very closely with the government
and that is one of the reasons why until now we have remained quiet
and giving that every chance we could.
[Adrienne] So China says they were spying.
Is it at all possible it's true?
No, no.
No.
[Adrienne] How do you know?
[Vina] Because these accusations are groundless.
They're baseless.
Their detention was arbitrary since day one.
That is what our government
and that's what many other governments around the world
have clearly stated.
There is no doubt why this happened.
Even Chinese officials, in various elaborate ways
have made it clear
that there is a link between what took place on December 1, 2018
with the arrest of Meng Wanzhou and subsequent detention of the two Michaels.
So you used the word arbitrary.
[Vina] Yes.
[Adrienne] China has heard that word.
China said last night -- a Chinese official that
there's no such thing as arbitrary detention in China.
[Vina] they have been making that point all along.
That this is following their own process.
That they have an independent judiciary and so forth.
The facts remain.
And, like I said, there have been a number of occasions where
that has been made clear to Canadians.
That Canada needs to untie the knot.
Canada needs to solve this problem
and the other elements will go back to the way they were.
Can you tell me about Michael?
Sure, well I've known Michael for almost 20 years.
We met in grad school.
We studied together.
He and I have been married for many, many years.
He's my best friend.
He's my family.
So I'm not objective
but I would say that he's a great man.
He wants to make the world a better place.
And that's why unfortunately, he is in this situation.
That's why he was in China.
And he proposed to you at the UN?
that's right, yes.
It was a UN proposal -- Canadian UN proposal.
At the time he was with the Canadian mission to the United Nations.
He was working there.
I mean we're still legally married but were separated.
And regardless of our romantic status, he is a very important person in my life.
He's my family.
And I have been doing everything I can for the last 560 days to secure his freedom.
And to him, who are you?
[Laughs]
I am his person.
Like, he's my person.
We have each other's back .
And he is in a fight for his life
and I am in his corner just like everybody else in his family.
When we were both at the United Nations
and I spent a lot of time in war zones because of my work
he would always say no matter where you are
if something bad happens I will be there and I'll get you out.
I have your back.
[Adrienne] And so for Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor
she's put everything else in her life on hold.
These just a sample of the meticulous notes and diary she's kept
of meetings in Washington and Ottawa.
Endless phone calls and to-do lists for securing their freedom.
And the worries about how they are.
Especially her Michael.
How's Michael managing?
Well it's it's hard for us to know.
The last consular visit was on January 14th.
Basically he has been confined to a single cell for this entire time.
He has not gone outside.
He has not seen a tree or had fresh air to breathe for 560 days.
He says that it really weighs on the soul
when you can't see more than 10 feet in any direction.
He has not been able to see more than 10 feet in any direction.
His life as he calls it is very monastic, very sparse.
For the first six months he was in solitary confinement.
Which means completely isolated.
Interrogated for many, many hours.
Since then the situation has changed.
He does have cellmates
so there is a bit of human interaction and that has meant a lot for his psychological health.
[Adrienne] Only once in 560 days has Vina heard his voice.
It was in March
or as the family counts time, day 460.
It was a long fought for gesture
because my Michael Kovrig's father was ill.
There'd been no consular visits for months because of the pandemic.
Imagine having to explain that to someone in jail.
So let's talk about that phone call.
So once in 560 days you've heard his voice.
Yes, it was the first time we heard his voice.
So what happened, how did that unfold?
We were sort of working on it and petitioning for it for many months
and then all of a sudden, sort of 48 hours before it happened
OK, it's gonna happen.
And 20 minutes beforehand I got a call on my cell phone
saying they will patch Michael through
and in a few minutes and that's exactly what happened.
It was meant to be 15-minute phone call
and it was with Michael's father, his sister and myself.
It ended up being 16 minutes and 47 seconds.
To be honest it was probably the most sort of meaningful and impactful
16 minutes and 40 seconds seconds of my life
because we got so much in.
Like Michael was incredible.
He had no idea the call was happening
but the minute he heard my voice, he said --
Well his question was V is that you?
Vina is that you?
And I said yes and I'm here with your father and your sister.
And he just like in a second realized what was happening
and started to speak.
And immediately you know talked about how we're doing and how much he loves us
and misses us and that he's OK.
And was very worried about his dad.
I'm so grateful that that call took place.
[Adrienne] When we come back:
Help me feel less isolated.
Let me share the love I have for you and we'll get through this together.
Love, Michael.
[Adrienne] Letters from Michael Kovrig were a lifeline to his family.
But those letters have stopped coming.
Canadian Michael Kovrig's family may have only heard his voice once
in 560 days of detention in a Chinese prison.
But they do have a sense of how he's managing thanks to letters.
Initially one a month.
But even those have stopped now.
The last letter received was in March.
For Vina Najibullah they are treasures.
No doubt, they're poetry.
Are you OK to read some of his letters?
Yes, sure.
So this one actually was early this was in July right after a his solitary ended.
And he says:
If there is one faint silver lining to this hell, it's this.
Trauma carved caverns of psychological pain through my mind.
As I strive to heal and recover, I find myself filling those gulfs with a love for you
and for life that is vast, deep and more profound and comforting
than what I've ever experienced before.
So as I sit here...
Tinnitus ringing in the silence as I walk in circles.
Pollution clogging my nose.
Come sit with me and walk with me in spirit.
Help me feel less isolated.
Let me share the love I have for you
and we'll get through this together.
Love, Michael.
[Adrienne] There's more than heartache here.
There's determination to get both men out.
And part of Vina's work has been to lobby wherever she can
and learn everything she can about the detention of Meng Wanzhou
and Canada's options.
So, Vina
I know you've been following the case of Meng Wanzhou carefully.
Including going to the court.
Yes, I was in Vancouver.
Nobody knew who you were.
You wandered right past all those cameras.
Nobody knew who you were.
That's right.
What is the relationship between her right now and them.
As long as that situation is continuing in Vancouver
it is very difficult to imagine a way to secure Michael's freedom.
To secure both our Michael and Michael's Spavor's freedom.
Last night China said that Canada is playing the role of accomplice to the United States.
When you hear that, what do you think?
I mean that has been the Chinese position since day one.
They have made it very clear that they view the arrests of Meng Wanzhou
as a political act orchestrated by the United States
and that Canada went along with that.
The language sort of varies between us being accomplices
versus us being sort of just naive
but the theme has been consistent.
She's taken for political reasons.
She needs to be released
and Canada is paying the price for that decision.
So we know that Donald Trump said that he would bring up the matter.
The case of the detention of the Canadians at every opportunity with China
but he signed multiple agreements with China since then.
So do you have any sense from the White House of what they've actually been doing?
There's definitely been support in words from the United States.
I don't know to what extent in private conversations or negotiations
there has been any discussion of this matter.
What I do know is that it's day 560.
And our Michael and Michael Spavor are still in jail.
They're continuing to suffer and pay the price for something that they had nothing to do with.
They are pawns in this bigger geopolitical game.
And it's time for us to take action.
Words are no longer enough.
What do you want the Chinese authorities to hear from you?
You are holding an innocent man.
Michael has done nothing to endanger China or Chinese people.
Michael has devoted his professional career to building peace in the world.
To building bridges between China and the rest of the world.
To understanding China.
He has great respect for the language and for the culture
and for the people.
Detaining an innocent man and inflicting so much suffering on him and his family
does not in any way serve the interests of China.
In fact it does the opposite.
It sends a chilling effect to all those people
who are interested in building bridges with China.
To all the people that are interested in a world that is more peaceful and just.
This is unfair.
This is unnecessary.
And a great nation does not need to engage in hostage diplomacy
or use people as pawns to prosecute its foreign policy.
That is unnecessary and I hope they will release him.