The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, today responded to the decision to reject the appeal of the Chinese court sentence against Huseyincan Celil, the Canadian citizen who has been detained in China since his extradition from Uzbekistan in June 2006.

“We were deeply disappointed to learn that Mr. Celil’s appeal has been rejected by a Chinese superior court,” said Minister MacKay. “In our view, due process for this Canadian citizen was not followed and his rights were not respected.”

The Government of Canada has strongly urged and will continue to urge Chinese authorities to immediately grant Canadian officials access to Mr. Celil and to respect their commitment to provide Canadian officials with information about his situation. The Canadian government also urges Chinese authorities to grant access to members of Mr. Celil’s family.

The Government of Canada is conducting a review of the 1999 Canada-China consular agreement to determine whether it is in fact an effective means of safeguarding Chinese-Canadian dual citizens travelling on Canadian passports.

This case remains of great importance to the Government of Canada. The Canadian Embassy in Beijing will continue to monitor the situation closely.