Debra Black
Staff Reporters
OTTAWA–A Canadian will likely have to complete a lengthy appeal of his life sentence handed down by an Ethiopian court before the federal government considers any drastic retaliation for what it considers a wrongful conviction, an aide to Canada's foreign affairs minister says.
Catherine Loubier, a senior press adviser to Lawrence Cannon, acknowledged calls by Bashir Makhtal's family and lawyer to review aid and assistance money that Ottawa sends each year to Ethiopia, but said an appeal of the sentence handed down Monday must first run its course.
