the case of bashir maktal
Said Maktal needs Ottawa to help free his imprisoned cousin.
Bashir Makhtal chronology:
Dec. 30 -- Canadian citizen and former Toronto resident Bashir Makhtal is arrested while trying to cross the Kenyan border after fleeing the threat of civil war in Somalia. After several weeks, he is deported back to Somalia and then on to Ethiopia.
-- His cousin, Hamilton resident, Said Maktal, learns of his arrest from family in Ethiopia and begins a campaign for
information about his whereabouts and well-being.
Jan. 24 -- Hamilton-Stoney Creek MP and NDP human rights critic Wayne Marston calls on Harper government to take immediate action to secure consular access to Bashir after being contacted by constituent Said Maktal.
-- Marston urges the government to avoid making the same mistakes it did with Maher Arar and Burlington's Huseyin Celil, who was arrested last year in Uzbekistan and then transferred to China where officials have denied him access to Canadian diplomats.
Feb. 13 -- Amnesty International takes up Bashir's cause and launches urgent appeal.
March 27 -- Said travels to Ottawa with new lawyer Lorne Waldman -- who also fought to free Maher Arar from a
Syrian prison -- to meet with the Ethiopian ambassador in Ottawa. The ambassador denies knowledge of Bashir's whereabouts.
-- A British human rights group reveals it has flight manifests that confirm Bashir is one of a number of prisoners
deported from Kenya.
April 4 -- About 60 demonstrators from the Ogaden Somali community in Toronto, Ottawa and Hamilton protest in front of the Ethiopian Embassy in Ottawa, demanding Makhtal be freed from detention.
-- Amnesty International reveals it believes Makhtal is being held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa in a prison known as Maikelawi.
April 10 -- The Ethiopian government acknowledges for the first time it has detained more than 40 foreign nationals from 17 countries. Ethiopia describes prisoners as "suspected
international terrorists". Despite no list of prisoners being
issued, Bashir Makhtal is believed to be among them.
April 11 -- Said learns from a Canadian foreign affairs official that Ethiopia has acknowledged to Canada's ambassador that Bashir is in detention there and will have consular
access after a probe into his alleged ties to a separatist group.
-- With files from Spectator wire services
