Family pushes for father’s return
Canadian man held in Egyptian jail for a year
The family of a Canadian man who has been arbitrarily detained in Egypt for nearly a year is pleading with Foreign Affairs Minister François-philippe Champagne to bring him home.
Egyptian authorities arrested Yasser Albaz at the airport in February as he was returning home to Oakville, Ont.
“His most basic human rights have been violated. He has been forced to spend time in a cell with 17 other men with one unhygienic toilet,” said his daughter Amal Ahmed at a press conference on Wednesday. “My father has been asking every single day what Canada is doing to get him out and bring him home.”
The Egyptian government has given no indication why Albaz, who owns an engineering company, was arrested, no charges have been laid and his detention is routinely extended in court proceedings. His family are in the dark about why he was not allowed to leave.
“To this day, there has been no indication whatsoever as to why he is being detained. Even his lawyers don’t have this information,” said Ahmed.
Ahmed said her father has missed her younger brother’s graduation and her sister’s wedding in the year he has been detained.
She said her father had travelled to Egypt many times before since immigrating to Canada more than 20 years ago. She said he was travelling on a Canadian passport and was not involved in anything other than his work.
“He has no political affiliations whatsoever. He is not active politically, so this came as a complete shock to our family,” she said.
Champagne was in Egypt for the Aswan Forum, an international meeting on African development. His spokesperson Adam Austen said Albaz’s case was discussed.
“Minister Champagne met with his Egyptian counterpart in Aswan today and raised the case directly with him. We will continue to raise it at the highest levels of the Egyptian government and consular officials will remain in regular contact with local authorities,” said Austen in an email.
Ahmed said both Champagne and former minister Chrystia Freeland have expressed their support to the family and Albaz has received consular visits.
Egypt’s President Abdel-fattah el-sissi is a former general who has been condemned for human rights abuses and has jailed political opponents.
Ahmed was joined Wednesday by representatives from Amnesty International and the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, who also called for the Canadian government to do more to see Albaz released.
Mustafa Farooq, executive director of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, said they’re also pushing for his release.