Rick Halperin
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:19:32 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
July 18 ETHIOPIA: Group worries execution close for Canadian held in Ethiopian jail A community group in Ottawa is worried that time is running out for a Canadian man who has been held an Ethiopian jail for 18 months. Group members are worried that former Toronto resident, Bashir Makhtal, 36, might soon face execution. Makhtal was arrested in Kenya almost 2 years ago when he fled there to escape the civil war in Somalia. He was later sent back to Somalia, and from there sent to an Ethiopian prison. There is now word from his family that Ethiopian officials are trying to force him to confess to acts of terrorism. Such a confession could result in the death penalty, said Fowsia Abdulkadir, a member of the group working to help Makhtal. Group members fear he could be executed as early as next week. "This is a Canadian citizen who has been held illegally. He has been rendered from Kenya illegally and has not seen any court process," Abdulkadir said. "Makhtal has been in custody incommunicado he wasn't allowed access for family or for Canadian officials or a lawyer. He has not been allowed to communicate with anybody. "He pretty much could have been tortured. We don't know," Abdulkadir said. Makhtal's story has galvanized the Somali community across Canada. An ethnic Somali, Makhtal is an Ethiopian-born Canadian citizen who was trying to start a business in Somalia when Ethiopia invaded in 2006. His family said he wants to meet with his lawyer and the Canadian High Commission. (source: CBC News) INDONESIA: Do not kill Bali bombers: father of Australian victim asks Indonesia The father of an Australian killed in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings asked Indonesia not to execute 3 militants convicted in the blasts, saying Friday "no good, only harm" would come from their deaths. "Nothing will return my son to me, to his mother, his family and his friends," Brian Deegan said in an open letter to Indonesian authorities. "But the execution of a selected few who were responsible for his death and the death and maiming of hundreds more will not cure the pain." Deegans's son Joshua was one of the 202 people killed in the Oct. 12 blasts on the resort island. Most of the victims were foreign tourists. Authorities have convicted more than 30 Islamic militants in the blasts, three of whom are on death row. On Thursday, an Indonesian court said it had rejected a final appeal by the trio, bringing their executions closer. The three can still appeal for clemency to the president, but have said they will not do so. Deegan, a barrister and a magistrate in his native Australia, said he and Joshua were opposed to the death penalty in all cases. His letter was released with his permission by the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network, a regional group that campaigns against state executions. He said killing the e men who have shown no remorse and maintain their acts were sanctioned under Islam as revenge for Muslim deaths in Afghanistan and elsewhere risked turning them into martyrs. He urged the death penalty to be commuted to life imprisonment. "I see that no good will come from their execution. I see only harm," he wrote. "I will not beg for their lives to be spared. But I seek that which I consider more appropriate. A penalty which will serve as a constant reminder to others. A penalty which will not destroy the lives of their families." The Bali attacks were carried out by members and associates of Jemaah Islamiyah, a local network of mostly Afghan trained militants, with al-Qaida providing money and some expertise, police and former militants have said. Islamic militants have carried out 3 other major attacks on Western targets in Indonesia since then, the last in 2005, also on Bali, when 3 suicide bombers killed 11 people in restaurant attacks. The execution of the men could trigger a backlash in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, but most analysts expect any reaction to be small and likely be limited to a show of solidarity at their funeral. Indonesia Muslims are overwhelmingly moderate. While most people disapprove of the U.S.-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and Washington's support for Israel, very few support al-Qaida style attacks on civilian targets, at home or abroad. (source: Associated Press)