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 Ethiopia:
Canadian Bashir Makhtal, After months of fruitless
effort
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Dr.Abdullahi Mohamed (Deputy Editor Geeska Afrika
Online)
Djibouti (HAN) July 23rd, 2008
Canadian Lorne Waldman, Makhtal's lawyer
Full Comment: write- Geeska Afrika Online at:
news@geeskaafrika.com or han@geeskaafrika.com
2007
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Ethiopia:
Canadian Bashir Makhtal, After months of fruitless effort
Djibouti (HAN) July 23rd 2008 - The Canadina
Foreign Affairs Department in Ottawa said that Canadian
diplomats in Ethiopia saw imprisoned Somalia Canadian Bashir
Makhtal last Friday. "Canadian officials were able to verify Mr.
Makhtal's well-being during our recent consular visit," Foreign
Affairs spokesman Shaun Tinkler said in Ottawa and responded
to questions from The Canadian Press.
"We will continue to press Ethiopian authorities to ensure that
we are provided with regular consular access."
The Canadian government should intervene to help Somali Canadian
man who has been held for one and half years in an Ethiopian
military prison, where he may be facing the death penalty, says
a group of Somali Canadians. Lorne Waldman, Makhtal's lawyer,
said Foreign Affairs told him of the visit but provided him no
details. "We haven't been given a report about what transpired
during the meeting."
Waldman has long been worried by unofficial reports from
Ethiopia that Makhtal has already appeared before an Ethiopian
Military court in Addis Ababa, where he will face trial for his
ONLF connections.
"The military courts are notorious for their lack of due
process," Waldman said Monday.
Tinkler said the department "has not been advised of any
criminal charges filed against Mr. Makhtal by Ethiopian
authorities."
The Ethiopian Embassy in Ottawa, Atto. Belay Kidane, first
counsellor, had no comment on the case, to answer Canadian Press
questions and calling it an "issue of national security
for Ethiopia."
The Geeska Afrika Magazine Sources: Canadian Press, HAN staff in Nairobi,
Kenya
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