By Jerome A. Cohen
I’m sure that the detained Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, will be bolstered by the moral support they will feel from any holiday greetings and sympathy they might receive. But I would like now to focus on trying to think of practical ways of freeing them.
There has been no word in the past few days about reported meetings between US authorities and Ms. Meng of Huawei’s lawyers. Supposedly the US extradition proceedings in Vancouver can be dropped in favor of “deferred prosecution” if Ms. Meng admits to the offense charged. She apparently is reluctant to admit to the charge, leading to further stalemate.
If this is indeed the situation, it occurred to me that the case might be resolved by President Trump granting her a pardon. This would require no admission or agreement on her part. Pardons are political acts in the US, Trump has made outrageous use of them, with more to come, and this case, implicitly involving as it does the PRC’s hostage diplomacy re Canada as well as the American initiation of the prosecution itself, is plainly political as well as legal.
Ms. Meng might be reluctant to be regarded as in a class with Trump’s felonious friends, but Huawei may welcome the opportunity to end the case, as might the PRC. Of course, any pardon would have to be preceded by an agreement between Canada and the PRC, as well as the US, that the pardon would be followed, after a brief “decent interval”, by the release and deportation of the two Michaels. Probably, to vindicate the appearance of justice in the PRC, each Michael would be required to plead guilty to what indeed might be termed a Trumped-up charge.
Complicated? Yes, but not unrealistic. I have taken part in negotiations somewhat analogous that led up to the release by the PRC of alleged offenders accused of serious crimes. The notorious Ms. Gao Zhan, for example, who turned out to be what might be called a “triple agent”, was, as a result of a quiet agreement between the US and the PRC, sentenced to a long prison term by a PRC court, but released within 48 hours on ostensible medical grounds.
I briefly floated this idea in an interview with David Wertime in Politico the other day, but thus far there has been no reaction. Is it zany? Can we come up with other ways to free two unfairly treated captives? Christmas cards won’t do the trick.