Allison Hanes, CanWest News Service; National Post
Published: Thursday, August 10, 2006
Article Link

OTTAWA -  After months of Chinese refusals to provide information on Celil's whereabouts or allow visits from Canadian consular officials, supporters believe Harper's reaching out to Chinese President Hu Jintao may be all that stands between the Burlington, Ont., man and a death sentence.

'It has to be at the highest levels,' said Beth Berton Hunter, a spokeswoman for Amnesty International in Toronto, said of any interventions by Canadian officials at this sensitive time.

Although she said Canada has been lobbying for Celil's freedom since his arrest in March, the human rights organization plans a news conference today where it will ask the government to adopt a tougher tone.

Celil's wife, Kamila Telendibaeva, waited anxiously Wednesday for news on the husband with whom she has not had contact since an ill-fated trip to Uzbekistan in March.

The couple have three children ages 7, 3 and 11/2 and Telendibaeva is due to give birth to their fourth baby later this month.

With her husband's life hanging in the balance, Telendibaeva said Harper's intervention would mean everything right now.

'As soon as possible, they have to save my husband from the Chinese jail,' she said Wednesday in a telephone interview. 'He (Mr. Harper) has to ask for his release. He's not a terrorist it's because he spoke against China.'

Celil, 37, is an ethnic Uyghur of Muslim faith. He came to Canada as a refugee in the mid 1990s and was later granted citizenship.

Trying to unite with two older children from a previous relationship who were left behind in China, Celil travelled to Uzbekistan in March with his wife to visit her family.

That's where he was arrested, while trying to renew his visa to stay in the country.

During the months Celil was detained in Uzbekistan, his wife was not permitted to visit or speak to him.

In April, an exhausted Telendibaeva returned to Canada for the sake of her own health.

But in June Uzbekistan extradited Celil to China, where he had apparently been convicted in absentia on nebulous terrorism charges.

Celil's supporters vehemently deny China's claims he was involved in violent activities, such as an assassination in Kyrgyzstan.

They attribute his problems with the Chinese government to his political activism on behalf of the country's ethnic Uyghurs. Much like the Tibetans, China's 7.2 million Turkic-speaking Muslims descended from the Huns have struggled for more independence since their territory was annexed a half a century ago.

Cheuk Kwan, chair of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China, said China is treating Celil's case as an internal matter in order to send a strong domestic message.

'China's biggest concern right now is unification, as we see with Hong Kong, as we see with Taiwan, and they certainly do not want people like the Tibetans or the Uyghurs to be talking about separatist movements,' said Kwan.

China has refused to recognize Celil's Canadian citizenship. Nor did Uzbekistan when it transferred the prisoner to China.

ahanes@nationalpost.com

National Post