在被中国当局拘留超过一千个日日夜夜后，Michael Kovrig，加拿大被扣押人士之一，披露了他在六个月内被单独监禁并遭持续审讯的痛苦经历——他将之比作“精神酷刑”。Kovrig和另外一位同国人士Michael Spavor是两国在激烈外交争端中的核心人物，这场争议至今仍影响着双方的关系。在接受加拿大广播公司（CBC）新闻独家采访中谈及被释放后的首次公开讲话，他说：“心理上，这是我所经历的最为严酷、最痛苦的事情。”
2018年12月10日，在结束晚餐后与怀有六个月身孕的伴侣走在位于北京公寓楼前的螺旋楼梯旁时，Kovrig突然遭到一群穿黑衣、手持相机的中国执法人员围捕。他说：“我们刚刚走上楼梯，就被十几名以中文喊话指出‘就是他’的一队人包围。”
在同月加拿大当局逮捕华为首席财务官孟晚舟之后，这起案件引发了长达三年的外交僵局。Kovrig，曾为国际危机组织资深顾问，与有着大量朝鲜工作经验、同样被指控涉嫌间谍罪的Spavor同时被捕。
当美国检察官撤回引渡要求并同意释放孟晚舟后，Kovrig和Spavor才于两年后的2021年9月重获自由。中国方面坚称，对他们的扣押与孟晚舟事件无关，而是出于健康原因，并声称已按照法律程序处理案件。
在接受CBC新闻采访时，Kovrig回忆道，在被捕初期被捆绑、蒙眼并驱车送往一间配有防震设施的单人监房。“他们告诉我说，‘你涉嫌危害中国国家安全，将接受审讯’。”他描述说，“那一刻让我脊背发凉。”
在长达六个月的时间里，他每天被限制在一个配备日光灯的狭窄牢房内，在极端条件下接受了每日6至9小时的连续审讯。有时，他只能靠三碗米饭维持生计，并在椅子上长时间静坐。
“他们企图恐吓、折磨并迫使你接受他们的虚假现实版本。”Kovrig表示。
而当被问及中国政府对他的指控时，外交部发言人林建回应说：“中国坚持依法办案，中国司法机关严格按照法律规定处理案件。捏造谎言和诋毁无法改变事实。”
Kovrig告诉CBC新闻，被关押六个月后他转至一个较大牢房，与另外十一名囚犯共享，环境有所改善。“那感觉就像从地狱搬到了冥界。”他说。
在被释放后的某个九月的清晨，Kovrig走出飞机，在多伦多与长久以来为他的获释不懈努力的妻子Vina Nadjibulla相拥，这温馨一幕深深触动了全国。此外，他也首次见到了他伴侣在他入狱期间生下的女儿。“那是你所能想象到的最美好、最暖心的感觉。”他说，“我永远不会忘记那种惊奇和所有的一切变得新鲜而美好的感觉。”
Kovrig回忆道，在那一刻的快乐中推着婴儿在摇摆椅上玩耍的情景，他的女儿对他母亲说：“妈妈，我很高兴。”
新闻来源：www.cnn.com
原文地址：Canadian held for more than 1,000 days describes ‘psychological’ torture in Chinese detention
新闻日期：2024-09-24
原文摘要：
Michael Kovrig, one of two Canadian men detained in China for more than 1,000 days on alleged spying charges, has described being put in solitary confinement for six months and relentlessly interrogated in what he said was psychological torture. Dubbed the “Michaels,” Kovrig and fellow Canadian national Michael Spavor were at the heart of a bitter tussle between Beijing and Ottawa that continues to sour diplomatic relations to this day. “It was psychologically, absolutely, the most grueling, painful thing I’ve ever been through,” Kovrig told CBC News in his first extensive public remarks since being released from Chinese prison three years ago. Kovrig said he was walking home with his partner, who was six months pregnant at the time, from dinner in Beijing on December 10, 2018 when he was seized by Chinese authorities. “We came up a spiral staircase right in front of the plaza in front of my apartment building, and boom,” Kovrig recalled. “There’s a dozen men in black with cameras on them surrounding us, shouting in Chinese, ‘That’s him.’” Kovrig, a former diplomat who was working as a senior advisor for the International Crisis Group think tank, was detained at the same time as Spavor, a Canadian consultant who worked extensively in North Korea, on alleged spying charges. The pair became embroiled in a three-year diplomatic row that began earlier that month when Canadian authorities arrested Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Chinese tech giant Huawei, in Vancouver on US fraud charges. Kovrig and Spavor were only freed after US prosecutors dropped the extradition request and agreed to release Meng, nearly two years later. Beijing consistently denied any connection between the arrests of Meng and the Michaels and said Kovrig and Spavor were released on bail for health reasons. Chinese officials did not publicly disclose any evidence against Spavor or Kovrig, or detailed information relating to their trials, which were held behind closed doors. ‘Chill down my spine’ After he was detained, Kovrig told CBC News he was handcuffed, blindfolded and thrown into a black SUV, then taken to a padded cell that would be his home for the next six months. “At that point they said, ‘You are under suspicion of endangering China’s state security. You are going to be interrogated,’” Kovrig said. “A chill went down my spine.” Kovrig said he was held in complete isolation in a cell under fluorescent lights for six months, in contravention of UN standards. He said he was interrogated for 6 to 9 hours daily, locked in a chair for hours on end, and at times was forced to survive on three bowls of rice per day. “They are trying to bully and torment and terrorize and coerce you into accepting their false version of reality,” Kovrig said. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday that “China upholds the rule of law, and China’s judicial authorities handle cases in strict accordance to the law.” “Lies and smearing won’t change the fact that (Kovrig) conducted illegal and criminal activities,” ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a daily briefing. “We urge relevant parties to respect facts and reflect upon their own mistakes.” Kovrig told CBC that six months into his detention he was moved to a larger cell with plexiglass windows, which he shared with a dozen cellmates. “That was kind of like moving from hell to limbo,” Kovrig said. Kovrig and Spavor were released in September 2021. Kovrig stepped off the plane in Toronto and hugged his separated wife Vina Nadjibulla, who had campaigned tirelessly for his release, in a touching moment that reverberated across the country. He also met his daughter, who his partner gave birth to while Kovrig was in prison, for the first time. He described the meeting as “the most fantastic, heartwarming feeling you can imagine.” “I’ll never forget that sense of wonder, of everything being new and wonderful again, of pushing my daughter on a swing and her saying to her mother, ‘Mummy, I’m so happy.’”
