ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — An Ethiopian court on Thursday postponed the trial of a Canadian suspect who has been in prison for two years on terror-related charges, an AFP correspondent reported.
Bashir Makhtal, an Ethiopian-born Canadian citizen, was among a group of at least 150 who were detained by Kenyan forces on its border with Somalia as they fled Ethiopia’s war with Somali Islamist rebels in late 2006.
The 40-year-old, who faces the death penalty if convicted, is accused of being a senior member of the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front as well as supporting the Islamic Courts Union before the group’s ouster from Somalia by Ethiopian troops two years ago.
Makhtal has pleaded not guilty to all charges since the start of his trial late last year.
Ethiopia’s high court adjourned the trial to April 20 after prosecutors failed to present witnesses at a hearing in Addis Ababa.
Rights groups have accused Addis Ababa of denying him legal counsel and holding him in solitary confinement during most of his time in jail before Canadian politicians held talks with the country’s leaders.
Adem Ibrahim, who presided a three-man panel of judges during the trial, stated that Makhtal was entitled to consular access and asked prison officials to grant him the privilege whenever it was sought.
Rights groups say Makhtal was arrested alongside men, women and children from more than 18 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.
Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia in late 2006 to prop up the country’s weak government and soon ousted an Islamist movement that briefly controlled large swathes of the country.
The Ethiopian army is also involved in a crackdown against ethnic-Somali rebels in the southeastern Ogaden region.
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