Friend concerned for detained Canadian after fund-raising effort shut down

OTTAWA — A friend of Michael Spavor says he is worried about the detained Canadian’s well-being and financial future now that an online fund-raising effort in his name has been derailed.

Andray Abrahamian was among the organizers of a GoFundMe campaign for Spavor, a Canadian arrested last month in China for allegedly endangering Chinese national security.

GoFundMe says today the campaign was shut down because its third-party payment processor was unable to handle the donations.

GoFundMe would not elaborate on the reasons why.

Spavor is director of the Paektu Cultural Exchange, an organization that facilitates sporting, cultural, tourism and business exchanges with North Korea.

He and fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig were taken into Chinese custody just days after Canadian authorities in Vancouver arrested Meng Wanzhou, a senior executive with Chinese firm Huawei Technologies, so she can be extradited to the U.S. to face fraud charges.

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