NCCM Welcomes Repatriation of Canadian Citizen Bashir Makhtal

-For Immediate Release-

Released from Ethiopia after 11 years of unjust imprisonment

(Ottawa – April 21, 2018) The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), a prominent civil liberties and advocacy organization, welcomes Bashir Makhtal’s return home to Canada to his family after over a decade of unjust imprisonment in Ethiopia.

In 2006, Bashir was « extraordinarily renditioned » from Kenya to Ethiopia, where in 2009 he was subjected to a grossly unfair trial on politically-motivated charges, a life sentence, and incommunicado detention. The NCCM has called for Bashir’s release and repatriation to Canada for 10 years.

« We welcome Bashir’s long overdue release and return to Canada, which comes after a sustained and persistent campaign undertaken by his family, his legal team, and civil society including allies such as Amnesty International Canada. We commend all those involved for vigorously fighting for Bashir’s human rights, and by extension, the rights of all Canadians unjustly detained abroad to be treated according to the principles of fundamental justice, » says NCCM Executive Director Ihsaan Gardee.

« We also thank the federal government for their efforts to achieve Bashir’s release, particularly Parliamentary Secretary for Consular Affairs Omar Alghabra, » adds Gardee.

The NCCM is an independent, non-partisan, and non-profit organization that is a leading voice for Muslim civic engagement and the promotion of human rights.

-30-