ICC Note:

Kevin Garret and his wife Julia ran a Christian coffee shop in Dandong, a city on the border with North Korea since 2008 and have lived in China  for 30 years providing humanitarian aid. The Chinese government accused them of being Canadian spies. Therefore, they were both arrested. Julia was released on bail after a year, and Kevin spent two years detained until his recent release after Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau visited China. The family thanked the Canadian government for being productive in seeing that Kevin Garret would be released and reunite with his family in Canada. 

09/21/2016 China (Christian Today) – The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada has thanked Justin Trudeau after he secured the release from China of Canadian missionary Kevin Garrett.

After two years in detention on suspicion of espionage, Garrett was released last week, shortly after Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau made his first official visit to China. Along with his wife Julia, Garrett was arrested in 2014 in Dandong, a city on the border with North Korea.

The couple had run a Christian coffee shop there since 2008 and have lived in China for 30 years providing humanitarian aid. Although Julia was released on bail in February 2015, Kevin was held in detention after a Xinhua report claimed there was evidence he had accepted tasks from “Canadian espionage agencies to gather intelligence in China”.

His son Simeon denied either of his parents had been involved in spying.

Garrett arrived back at Vancouver International Airport on Thursday and was greeted by his family.

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