(Addis Ababa.  August 03,  2009 Ceegaag Online)

The Ethiopian High Court on Monday sentenced a Ethiopian-born Canadian citizen to life in prison for being a member of an Ethiopian rebel group and engaging in terrorist activities.

Bashir Ahmed Makhtal was given the second-highest penalty to serve as a deterrent to other members of the Ogaden National Liberation Front, said a judge, who read the sentence on behalf of a three-man panel. The judges did not give their names nor did the statement give their names.

On July 27, the High Court found the former Toronto resident guilty of being a member of the political and military central committees of the ONLF; working to co-ordinate attacks against the Ethiopian army; and working with the Eritrean government in recruiting and training insurgents.

"The nature of these crimes forces the court to impose punishment that would act as a lesson to deter others. And the court has decided to impose a life sentence," said the court. The death penalty is the maximum sentence Makhtal faced.

Thumbing his rosary, Makhtal remained calm and composed when the sentence was read.

Last week Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Canada would ask that Makhtal not face the death penalty.

A Canadian diplomat who attended the session of the court declined to comment.

The defence said Makhtal, "was at the wrong place at the wrong time." Makhtal was arrested at the border of Kenya and Somalia in early 2007 at a time when Ethiopia had invaded the country to back the fragile Somali government against Islamic militants. Ethiopia eventually withdrew in January

Defence lawyer Gebreamlak, who only gave his first name, later said they will appeal the judges' verdict and sentence. The defence has in the past said that Makhtal was caught because his grandfather, who is deceased, helped found the ONLF.

The group, which the government brands a terrorists organization, has been fighting for autonomy in eastern Ethiopia. The government also accuses Eritrea of supporting the group. Ethiopia and Eritrea are archrivals with a border dispute that remains unresolved despite fighting a war and a ruling on the border by an independent commission.

Human rights groups have said Makhtal was one of hundreds of people held in secret prisons in Ethiopia on suspicion of being involved in terrorism. Makhtal's release after two years was secret but his subsequent trial was public.

Last week, Makhtal's Canadian lawyer Lorne Waldman called the Ethiopian proceedings a "kangaroo court" that ignored important evidence from Makhtal, who has been locked up for more than two years.

Makhtal, born in Ethiopia in 1969, settled in Canada as a refugee. He later moved to Kenya, opening a used-clothing business and was working in Somalia when Ethiopian troops invaded in late 2006.

Makhtal fled back to Kenya, but was detained along with several others at the Kenya-Somalia border.

New York-based organization Human Rights Watch says Makhtal was subsequently deported to Somalia from Kenya on Jan. 20, 2007, and was then shipped to Ethiopia.

With files from The Canadian Press

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