‘Extradition’ Podcast Reopens the Cold Case of a Canadian Held in China for Almost Two Decades
May 01 2024 - 9:40AM
TVO Today has launched Extradition: The Search for Huseyin Celil, a
gripping new podcast investigating the disappearance of a Canadian
citizen and Uyghur refugee. Huseyin Celil was arrested under false
pretenses while abroad and sent to prison in China. Almost two
decades later, his fate remains unknown despite his family’s
desperate pleas for answers.
From the same team behind the award-winning Unascertained
podcast, this six-episode series reveals the complicated global
politics behind one man’s unjust confinement. It investigates
whether the Canadian government has done all it can to get Celil
released. The podcast team takes on this cold case to reignite the
17-year long search for Huseyin.
“Canadians will remember the massive effort to bring home the
‘Two Michaels’ in 2021. The series examines why the same hasn’t
been done for Huseyin Celil,” says Katie O’Connor, TVO’s
managing editor of podcasts & digital. “Extradition sifts
through the web of international politics to get answers on where
he is today and whether he is still alive.”
Through candid interviews with former Canadian politicians,
in-depth insight from experts on China, and new information brought
to light through the team’s reporting, the podcast explores how
China’s harsh crackdowns on its Uyghur population are reaching far
beyond the country’s borders and encroaching on the safety and
security of Canadian citizens.
"Our decision to re-open the case of Huseyin Celil and
investigate his whereabouts has resulted in new and unexpected
revelations,” said Yusuf Zine, Extradition producer and
host. A timeline of Huseyin's experience in prison from uncovered
notes; startling details from a behind-closed-doors meeting between
two former ministers; and a cache of contacts that gave us a direct
line into the prison where Huseyin is being held. It's a series
that pulls back the curtain of China's mass imprisonment of Uyghurs
to find a lost and forgotten Canadian man."
Subscribe and listen to Extradition: The Search for Huseyin
Celil on Wednesdays via Apple, Google, Spotify or your preferred
podcasting platform. Listen to the series trailer here.
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ABOUT INNERSPEAK:Innerspeak Media is a creative producing
duo, founded and led by Kevin Young and Yusuf Zine, based in
Toronto, Canada. Our work focuses on storytelling through writing,
directing, and editing with specific backgrounds in film, podcasts,
and theatre. In 2018, our first feature documentary, I Am Rohingya:
A Genocide in Four Acts, won the Cinema Politica Audience Choice
Award, and has screened in multiple countries and film festivals
around the world - including at the United Nations. Our previous
podcast, Unascertained: The Case of Soleiman Faqiri, won several
awards including Amazon Music's Best Canadian Podcasts of 2021. Our
work has been featured in major international news outlets such as
The Guardian, Al-Jazeera, CBC and more.
Media contact:Genevieve Grant, TVO | ggrant@tvo.org
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- TVO Today podcast Extradition: The Search for Huseyin
Celil
Genevieve Grant
TVO
ggrant@tvo.org