Some positive news recently for the Canadian couple who were arrested last August in Dandong on suspicion of stealing state secrets. While husband Kevin Garratt remains in detention, his wife Julia was released on bail last week.
The couple, who are in their mid-50s and originally hail from Vancouver, have lived in China since the mid-80s. Since 2008 they’ve run a coffee shop in the China-DPRK border city of Dandong, Liaoning, while also conducting Christian aid work for North Koreans. In August 2014 they were seized and detained by Chinese authorities on suspicion of spying and stealing state secrets.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said, “Kevin Garratt and Julia Garratt are under suspicion of undermining China’s state security. Competent Chinese authorities will handle the case and ensure the legal rights of the two persons according to law.”
The Globe and Mail spoke to the Garratts’ son, Simeon, who explained that while his mother was released from detention, she is still under strict limits of movement:
“It seems she’s still very much under the same rules she was before – but she is able to eat the food she wants and sleep in a bed, basically,†Simeon said.
After six months with the stress of guards in her room at all times and little knowledge about what the future might hold, Julia appeared to have lost weight and was also very careful in what she said, her son said.
She said, “ ‘I don’t want to do anything wrong. I just want some time that’s peaceful to myself,’ †he said. “Mentally she’s fine. It’s going to take some time to get back to normal life.†[source]
Though Julia Garratt is now more comfortable, her husband’s situation has deteriorated, having been moved from residential surveillance to the more serious status of criminal detention.
“While we welcome the recent decision to release Julia Garratt, the government of Canada remains very concerned with the detention of Mr Garratt,” Reuters quoted a statement from office of Junior Foreign Minister Lynne Yelich as saying. “We have raised the case at the highest levels and will continue to raise it with senior officials.”
According to a report by the Associated Press, the couple worked with North Star Aid, a registered charity in British Columbia that primarily works to provide humanitarian aid to North Koreans. According to their son Simeon, while his parents made no secret of their Christian faith, they refrained from flaunting it, as religious evangelism is against the law.
The same report mentioned that their detentions came amid a crackdown on Christian groups aiding North Korean refugees along the border, as well as a diplomatic row with Canada over hacking allegations; a connection to which China has strongly denied.
