Canada to pressure Ethiopia to release Canadian (Bashir Makhtal)

Minister of Transportation John Baird hopes to go to Ethiopia later this month to pressure the Ethiopian government to release a Canadian citizen who is serving a life sentence there.

Bashir Makhtal, who was convicted in August of being a member of a separatist group and engaging in an armed struggle against the Ethiopian government, is an ethnic Somali born in Ethiopia's Ogaden region. The former Torontonian was arrested more than two and a half years ago. He and his family here have always maintained his innocence.

Baird said he has been increasingly frustrated by the case and the government's many attempts to meet with senior Ethiopian officials both in New York during the UN meetings last week and in Addis Ababa.

He has attempted to go to Ethiopia and meet with officials there on several occasions, but his trip has repeatedly been postponed because senior officials were unable to meet with him. "I'm frustrated," said Baird. "Bashir's family is frustrated. We need to step it up a notch and take the case directly to senior officials in Addis Ababa."

Baird said he has applied for a visa to travel to Ethiopia and hopes to fly there during the Parliamentary break after Thanksgiving weekend. Baird said he respects the fact Ethiopia is an independent country, but the Ethiopian government must understand for the Canadian government this case continues to be an "important priority."

"I'm prepared to take the case to Addis Ababa directly on behalf of the government and the people of Canada," Baird said. "He's (Makhtal) a Canadian and there is no evidence he has done a thing wrong and his government is standing behind him 100 per cent. We'll keep up the fight for Bashir. We're not going away on this. My desire to go to Ethiopia underlines the priority the government gives the case. We consider Ethiopia a friend and we want to make the case directly to that friend."

Baird's comments come just before a news conference that took place this morning on Parliament Hill with Bashir Makhtal's cousin Said, representatives from Amnesty International, the NDP, and Bashir Makhtal's Canadian lawyer Lorne Waldman.

The group plans to plead for direct intervention in the case from the Prime Minister of Canada. Said Makhtal – while appreciative of Baird's repeated attempts to help his cousin and other efforts by government representatives such as Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Deepak Obhrai and Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon – is also frustrated by what he sees as a lack of action.

"I've been getting all kinds of promises that our government is doing the best it can ...but I would like to see some results from that. We have given enough time to the Ethiopian government to settle the case. I want Prime Minister Stephen Harper to bring my cousin back to Canada. The government admits it's a wrongful conviction. What are we waiting for? I'm asking the government of Canada to forcefully request the release of my cousin. I believe the pressure has to come from the Prime Minister of Canada."