Canadian activist jailed for life in China
A Canadian activist has today been jailed for life in China for terrorist offences, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Huseyin Celil was sentenced for “taking part in terrorist activities and plotting to split the country,” Xinhua said. The brief report did not give other details.
Celil, a member of the Uighur minority group from China’s western Xinjiang region, was born and raised in China and drew the attention of authorities because of his involvement in a campaign for the rights of his people.
He was arrested in China and tortured, but escaped from prison in 2000 and fled to Uzbekistan and Turkey before reaching Canada, where he was given citizenship.
He was arrested in Uzbekistan in March 2006 while visiting his wife’s relatives, and extradited to China in June.
The issue has been a point of contention between Canada and China, which does not recognise Celil’s Canadian citizenship and says his case is not subject to consular agreements.
Ottawa has been aggressively lobbying for his release – a move that has angered Chinese officials, as did Canada’s granting of honorary citizenship to the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama.
