Supreme court confirms lower court's life sentence (Source: TheStar)
Ethiopia's top court has rejected an appeal by a former Torontonian serving a life sentence in an Addis Ababa prison to have his conviction for crimes against the country overturned.
According to an email from the lawyer for Bashir Makhtal, the Ethiopian Federal Supreme Court upheld Friday a lower court's decision that found the Canadian citizen guilty of terrorism and sentenced him to life in prison.
According to Gebreamlak Tekle, Makhtal was "calm" when he heard the court's decision and was not surprised at all. He was in "good health and has gotten used to the situation in prison," he added.
There are, however, a number of legal options remaining, according to Tekle.
One is to appeal to the Ethiopian Court of Cassation, which reviews errors of law. It may also be possible to put in an official request for pardon under the country's laws. But those options still have to be discussed with Makhtal.
Makhtal, a fortysomething former employee with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, lived in Toronto for close to a decade before leaving in 2001 to set up a used clothing business with a friend in Djibouti.
An ethnic Somali born in Ethiopia's Ogaden region, Makhtal was convicted earlier this year of being a member of a separatist group, engaging in an armed struggle against the government, and of aiding and abetting the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), a religious alliance that seized control of Somalia before it was ousted by U.S. and Ethiopian forces in 2006. Makhtal was arrested in December 2006, a time when the U.S., Ethiopia and Somalia were battling for power in the Horn of Africa.
Makhtal had been in Somalia selling used clothes and fled the capital once war broke out and was arrested along with dozens of other foreign nationals on the border of Kenya. He taken to jail in Nairobi.
Just before he was to appear in court he was whisked out of the country – one of about 150 people who were secretly rendered to Ethiopia, some questioned by the CIA. Eventually all the other foreign nationals were let go because of pressure from their respective governments, but Makhtal languished in jail despite his protestations of innocence. He was held incommunicado for 18 months before being allowed to see a lawyer and Canadian officials. At first, Ethiopian officials denied they even had him in jail.
Makhtal was sentenced to life in prison in August on all four charges. Tekle, his lawyer, argued in an appeal in November before the Ethiopian Supreme Court that the charges against Makhtal were fabricated and all the witnesses gave false testimony. He also argued there should have been only one charge, that the prosecutor had not proven his case and, perhaps most importantly, Makhtal did not get a fair trial.
Tekle asked the court to reverse the convictions and release Makhtal, or alternatively, give him "a fair sentence," which in Tekle's mind meant sentencing him to time already served and then releasing him.
Makhtal supporters say that he was of interest to the Ethiopians because his grandfather was a co-founder of the Ogaden National Liberal Front (ONLF), an ethnic Somali group formed to fight for independence in the oil-rich region.
But Makhtal's family says he has never met his grandfather and that he left Somalia when he was 11. Family and supporters say Makhtal is innocent. During his trial he told the court: "I am a victim of the ONLF."
After his sentencing, Makhtal's Canadian lawyer called the decision a "travesty of justice," adding that Makhtal didn't get a fair trial. Lorne Waldman called the Ethiopian justice system "a kangaroo court."
Waldman said Makhtal's Canadian supporters should lobby members of Parliament to demanding his repatriation, and to stop doing business with Ethiopia until that happens.
"It's not acceptable and we cannot continue to operate as business as usual when an innocent Canadian man is languishing in prison for life," Waldman told the Star Friday. "We've waited patiently for the Ethiopian justice system to dispense justice and it hasn't, so the (Canadian) government has to act."
Makhtal's cousin Said Maktal, who lives in the Hamilton area, has led a campaign for close to three years to get his cousin freed.
He has staged demonstrations, lobbied Canadian politicians, talked to officials at Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. All along he has asked that Prime Minister Stephen Harper to get involved.
Federal Transport Minister John Baird has taken up the cause in recent months and has promised on several occasions to go to Ethiopia to try to secure Makhtal's release. Baird is on record saying that the Canadian government remains "committed at the highest levels" to doing everything it can to help Makhtal, but so far has not gone to Ethiopia.
Other government officials have said that they are awaiting the final appeal process before taking any other action. There have been repeated calls by Makhtal's family and lawyer to review Ottawa's aid and assistance money to Ethiopia.
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