OTTAWA — Amnesty International on Thursday called on Canada to press Ethiopia to repatriate a Canadian serving a life sentence on terrorism-related charges.
"Prime Minster Stephen Harper must insist that Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi bring Canadian citizen Bashir Makhtal with him when he comes to attend the G20 Summit in Toronto, says Amnesty International Canada," the non-profit organization said in a statement.
Harper should inform Zenawi that his invitation to the G20 meetings "is conditional on an invitation for two," for both himself and Makhtal, it said.
Makhtal was convicted last year on charges that he supported the Ogaden National Liberation Front, an Ethiopian separatist movement.
He was among some 150 people detained by Kenyan forces on the border with Somalia as they fled invading Ethiopian troops in early 2007, and was initially accused of supporting the hardline Islamist movement in Somalia.
Later he faced allegations that he aided the Ogaden National Liberation Front. Makhtal denied all the charges.
Amnesty International said Makhtal's trial was "fundamentally unfair," while the source of accusations against him were "unclear."
"Much of the case seems to be based on the fact his grandfather was once an Ogadeni leader," it said.
Canada's Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said previously that Ottawa was "extremely disappointed by the maximum jail sentence" handed down against Makhtal."
