Amnesty International Oakville will hold a garage sale Saturday, Aug. 16 in support of its mission to free prisoner of conscience Huseyin Celil.

Celil is a Canadian citizen, born in China, who is serving a life sentence in that country while his wife and four sons live in Burlington.

He was arrested on a family trip to Uzbekistan in 2006 and deported to China. A native Uighur from northwest China, Celil worked on human rights for his people in the 1990s before he fled the country.

He came to Canada in 2001 as a refugee from Turkey and settled in Burlington. He has four children aged six to 15 — three of whom were born in Canada. 

The Chinese consider Celil to be a Chinese national and do not recognize his 2005 Canadian citizenship.

He was arrested for what his family and supporters say are trumped-up terrorism charges. Celil celebrated his 45th birthday on March 1.

The fundraiser runs from 8:30 a.m.-noon at 2462 Hixon St., just east of Bronte Road.

Original Link: https://www.insidehalton.com/news-story/4736930-amnesty-oakville-event-in-support-of-huseyin-celil/