In Aug. 2014, Chinese state security personnel arrested the Canadian couple Kevin and Julia Garratt at a restaurant in the northeastern city of Dandong. Kevin, who had operated a coffee shop with his wife in the city since 2008, would end up spending the next 775 days in Chinese detention on accusations of espionage, in a case with numerous similarities to the arrest and ongoing incarceration of North Korea consultant Michael Spavor, as well as fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig.
As Spavor spends his 1,000th day in a Chinese prison, Kevin Garratt joins the podcast to discuss his own extended imprisonment at the same detention facility in Dandong, and his thoughts on the two Michaels’ cases and Beijing’s “hostage diplomacy.”
“It’s heartbreaking that we are now at the two Michaels 1,000-day incarceration anniversary,” NK News CEO Chad O’Carroll said. “When Michael Spavor was initially detained, I suspected this would be a case whereby he’d be free within 6-12 months maximum. Alas, we’re now almost at the three-year phase. I really hope these guys can be freed soon.”
Please consider donating to help Michael Spavor here. Kevin and Julia Garratt’s book recounting their arrest and imprisonment, “Two Tears on the Window,” is available here.
About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insight from our very own journalists.
Foreign RelationsHuman Security / Human Rights