'I'm just so thrilled for him': Colleague of Michael Kovrig reacts to release
CTV
A colleague of Michael Kovrig says that he's ‘thrilled’ to hear that the Canadian is finally home after being detained in China for more than 1,000 days.
"It's hard to describe but I'm just so thrilled for him and his family more than anybody else,” Praveen Madhiraju told CTV News Channel on Saturday. “This has been a long time coming and we're just thrilled for this next chapter."
Kovrig and fellow Canadian Michael Spavor both landed at Calgary International Airport early Saturday morning. Since December 2018, the two men had been detained while facing espionage charges, which came not long after Canadian authorities -- responding to an extradition request from the U.S. -- arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver.
Meng was released on Friday after a deal with U.S. prosecutors. The same day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed that the two Michaels were on a flight back to Canada.
Madhiraju worked with Kovrig at Crisis Group, an international foreign policy think tank. Kovrig, an ex-diplomat, had been working in China as the group's Northeast Asia advisor before his arrest.
