May 11, 2017
Ministers are hosting the first ever visit to London by the Ethiopian Prime Minister this week, while a British father remains illegally detained on the country’s death row.
Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn will attend the London Somalia Conference on Thursday (11th) where he is expected to meet Boris Johnson and Theresa May.
The UK Government has refused to request the return of British man Andy Tsege to the UK, despite repeated requests from his family.
Mr Desalegn presided over the illegal kidnap and rendition of Andy to Ethiopia in 2014. Andy’s unlawful death sentence, based on falsified, political charges, was handed down in absentia in 2009, while he was living in London with his partner and two children.
Harriet McCulloch – a deputy director at human rights organization Reprieve, which is assisting Mr Tsege’s family – said:
“Boris Johnson is rolling out the red carpet for a man who has overseen the scandalous kidnap and rendition of a British dad – Andy Tsege, who now languishes on death row. Andy and his family have been through a horrifying ordeal at the hands of Hailemariam Desalegn’s government. The Government must use this rare chance to seek Andy’s urgent return home, before it’s too late.”
ENDS
Source – Reprieve UK