Ontario man held in Uzbekistan after bid to save family

CBC News April 12 Ottawa friends of an Ontario man facing the death penalty in China say they have been reassured that the Canadian government is doing all it can to free him. Canadian citizen Huseyin Calil is a member of China's Uygur minority, which is a Turkish-speaking Muslim group in the west of the country. Calil recently travelled to neighboring Uzbekistan in an attempt to bring his three children out of China. He had originally left them behind when he fled the country, accused of supporting separatism. He was arrested in Uzbekistan and now faces extradition to China, where he has been sentenced to death in absentia. Friend Mohamed Tohti says fears for family members are common to many Uygurs in Canada. "There are so many Uygurs here, even with the Canadian passport. They are living in fear. Constant fear, just because of the Chinese harassment and the the state terror to the Uygur people and their family back home. That is the dilemma for Uygur people," Tohti said from Ottawa, noting if any Uygur take part in any kind of protest, family members back home risk facing torture. A spokesperson for the prime minister's office says Canadian officials are doing all they can to secure Huseyin Calil's release. There are three reasons Calil took the important risk he did: two sons and one daughter from his first marriage, according to friend Burhan Celik. Celik says he missed them constantly. Now the eldest boy is approaching adulthood. Celik says that fact gave his friend an extra sense of urgency. The son is constantly harassed by the officials, and Calil believes that as soon as his children reach the age of majority, they will be kept in prison for no reason, because of what their father is accused of.