makhtal.org

Stories of Canadians seized overseas, detained and thrown into squalid jails have become sadly commonplace in recent years. But the latest, of Bashir Makhtal, is especially alarming, because the former Toronto man faces a potential death sentence after an Ethiopian court declared him guilty of having links with a separatist and terrorist organization. His sentence will be handed down tomorrow.

A Canadian citizen who has been in jail in Ethiopia for 2 1/2 years has been convicted of being part of a separatist terrorist organization there.

Bashir Makhtal, who lived in Toronto until June 2002, was devastated when the judge announced the verdict, according to relatives here. Makhtal has maintained his innocence throughout the years he has been held captive.

Relatives here said he told kin in Addis Ababa that his only hope now is the Canadian government. They said he did not believe he would be treated fairly by Ethiopian officials.