By Canadian Press

Family of Canadian Uyghur advocate held in China upset, outraged he remains detained

Sep 28, 2021 | 5:17 PM

OTTAWA — The wife of a Canadian Uyghur advocate imprisoned in China for 15 years says she is disappointed that her husband was not part of a deal that freed Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig.

Huseyin Celil has been detained in China since 2006, after he was arrested in Uzbekistan and sent to China after his long-standing advocacy for the human rights of his Muslim ethnic Uyghur minority.

Unlike Spavor and Kovrig, Canadian consular officials can’t meet with Celil because China doesn’t recognize his dual Canadian citizenship, obtained in 2005.

Celil’s wife, Kamila Telendibaeva, says she was happy to see Spavor and Kovrig freed after a years-long ordeal, but was left frustrated at why the government couldn’t also bring her husband home.

She feels the Liberals are ignoring Huseyin Celil’s case, and she wants to see a harder push to secure his release.

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Telendibaeva believes winning his freedom is possible after seeing how Canadian officials worked with international counterparts, including the United States, to pressure the Chinese government to release Kovrig and Spavor.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 28, 2021.

The Canadian Press