{"id":60206,"date":"2017-10-03T12:23:48","date_gmt":"2017-10-03T17:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ethiopanorama.com\/?p=60206"},"modified":"2017-10-03T12:37:59","modified_gmt":"2017-10-03T17:37:59","slug":"boris-johnson-urged-to-intervene-to-save-briton-on-death-row-in-ethiopia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/?p=60206","title":{"rendered":"Boris Johnson urged to intervene to save Briton on death row in Ethiopia"},"content":{"rendered":"<nav class=\"navigation__container navigation__container--second\" role=\"navigation\" aria-label=\"Guardian sections\" data-component=\"nav\"><\/nav>\n<div class=\"l-side-margins\">\n<article id=\"article\" class=\"content content--article section-world-news tonal tonal--tone-news\" role=\"main\" data-test-id=\"article-root\">\n<div class=\"hide-on-mobile\">\n<header class=\"content__head tonal__head tonal__head--tone-news \">\n<div class=\"tonal__standfirst u-cf\">\n<div class=\"gs-container\">\n<div class=\"content__main-column\">\n<div class=\"content__standfirst\" data-link-name=\"standfirst\" data-component=\"standfirst\">\n<p>Heads of Law Society and Bar Council ask foreign secretary to seek release of Andargachew Tsege, who was kidnapped in 2014<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content__main tonal__main tonal__main--tone-news\">\n<div class=\"gs-container\">\n<div class=\"content__main-column content__main-column--article js-content-main-column \">\n<div class=\"js-score\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"js-sport-tabs football-tabs content__mobile-full-width\"><\/div>\n<figure id=\"img-1\" class=\"media-primary media-content() \" data-component=\"image\" data-media-id=\"5bc80de1b264b96653320641614bfc5a8c2828f8\">\n<div class=\"u-responsive-ratio\"><picture><!-- [if IE 9]><video>< ![endif]--><source media=\"(min-width: 980px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 980px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" sizes=\"620px\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 980px)\" sizes=\"620px\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 740px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 740px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" sizes=\"700px\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 740px)\" sizes=\"700px\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 660px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 660px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" sizes=\"620px\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 660px)\" sizes=\"620px\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 480px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 480px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" sizes=\"645px\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 480px)\" sizes=\"645px\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 0px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 0px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" sizes=\"465px\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 0px)\" sizes=\"465px\" \/><!-- [if IE 9]><\/video>< ![endif]--> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"maxed responsive-img\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/5bc80de1b264b96653320641614bfc5a8c2828f8\/280_397_3336_2003\/master\/3336.jpg?resize=350%2C210&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Placards outside the Foreign Office in London, April 2015.\" width=\"350\" height=\"210\" \/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<figcaption class=\"caption caption--main caption--img\">Placards outside the Foreign Office in London, April 2015. Photograph: Alamy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"mobile-only\">\n<header class=\"content__head tonal__head tonal__head--tone-news \">\n<div class=\"content__header tonal__header\">\n<div class=\"gs-container\">\n<div class=\"content__main-column u-cf\">\n<div class=\"content__labels content__labels--not-immersive \">\n<div class=\"content__section-label \"><a class=\"content__section-label__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/ethiopia\" data-link-name=\"article section\">Ethiopia <\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"content__headline\">Boris Johnson urged to intervene to save Briton on death row in Ethiopia<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tonal__standfirst u-cf\">\n<div class=\"gs-container\">\n<div class=\"content__main-column\">\n<div class=\"content__standfirst\" data-link-name=\"standfirst\" data-component=\"standfirst\">\n<p>Heads of Law Society and Bar Council ask foreign secretary to seek release of Andargachew Tsege, who was kidnapped in 2014<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content__meta-container js-content-meta js-football-meta u-cf content__meta-container--twitter \">\n<p class=\"byline\" data-link-name=\"byline\" data-component=\"meta-byline\"><a class=\"tone-colour\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/profile\/owenbowcott\" rel=\"author\" data-link-name=\"auto tag link\">Owen Bowcott<\/a> Legal affairs correspondent<\/p>\n<div class=\"meta__twitter\">\n<div class=\"contact hide-until-leftcol \">@owenbowcott<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"content__dateline\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><time class=\"content__dateline-wpd js-wpd content__dateline-wpd--modified\" datetime=\"2017-10-03T17:56:22+0100\" data-timestamp=\"1507049782000\">Tuesday 3 October 2017 <span class=\"content__dateline-time\">17.56\u00a0BST<\/span> <\/time> <time class=\"content__dateline-lm js-lm u-h\" datetime=\"2017-10-03T18:03:58+0100\" data-timestamp=\"1507050238000\">Last modified on Tuesday 3 October 2017 <span class=\"content__dateline-time\">18.03\u00a0BST<\/span> <\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content__article-body from-content-api js-article__body\" data-test-id=\"article-review-body\">\n<p><a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/boris\" data-link-name=\"auto-linked-tag\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Boris Johnson<\/a> has been urged by the heads of both branches of the legal profession to call for the release of a Briton who was abducted in Yemen and is now on death row in Ethiopia.<\/p>\n<p>The president of the Law Society, Joe Egan, and the chair of the Bar Council, Andrew Langdon QC, have written to the foreign secretary to ask him to intervene more forcefully in the case of <a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2015\/may\/22\/un-investigates-briton-death-row-ethiopia-andargachew-tsige\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Andargachew Tsege<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson has said he will \u201cnot interfere in the legal systems of other countries\u201d and that calling for his release would not \u201cbe helpful at this stage\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Tsege, known as Andy, was kidnapped in 2014 and forcibly flown to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, and is an opponent of the regime. He holds British citizenship. His partner, <a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2016\/aug\/15\/activist-andargachew-tsege-eprdf-death-row-ethiopia-kidnap\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Yemi Hailemariam<\/a>, and their three children are also British and live in the UK. She has not spoken to him for nearly three years.<\/p>\n<p>Tsege, 63, had previously been secretary general of Ginbot 7, a political opposition party that called for democracy, free elections and civil rights in <a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/ethiopia\" data-link-name=\"auto-linked-tag\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Ethiopia<\/a>. He first came to the UK in 1979.<\/p>\n<p>Tesge was travelling from Dubai to Eritrea in June 2014 when his flight stopped over in Yemen. It is believed Yemeni security staff handed him over to the Ethiopians.<\/p>\n<p>The letter to Johnson from Egan and Langdon says they are very concerned about the situation of Tsege, who is \u201cunlawfully detained on death row\u201d. It points out that he was tried in absentia, without notice and sentenced to death in 2009.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"element element-rich-link element-rich-link--tag element--thumbnail element-rich-link--upgraded\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-tag\" data-component=\"rich-link-tag\">\n<div class=\"rich-link tone-news--item \"><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cHe was hooded, shackled and rendered at night to Ethiopia where he was held incommunicado for over 50 days and has been detained ever since,\u201d the letter continues. \u201cWe understand that, in three years, he has been permitted a single phone call to his wife and children, and that the UK government has yet to secure effective consular access. Mr Tsege has now been unlawfully held on Ethiopia\u2019s death row for over 1,000 days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Egan and Langdon say that Tsege\u2019s conviction violates international law standards. Their letter to Johnson concludes: \u201cWe are deeply concerned about these flagrant violations of a UK citizen\u2019s rights and hope you will make representations to the Ethiopian authorities to ensure that [they] &#8230; release Mr Tsege without delay and enable him to return to the United Kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hailemariam told the Guardian: \u201cThe foreign secretary is saying we should accept kidnapping. It\u2019s illogical and it\u2019s heart-breaking. The Ethiopian government refuses to let me travel to see him.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"img-2\" class=\"element element-image img--landscape fig--narrow-caption fig--has-shares \" data-component=\"image\" data-media-id=\"67a17c584eac3a516112ee8a20e39c6c4a262f6a\">\n<div class=\"u-responsive-ratio\"><picture><!-- [if IE 9]><video>< ![endif]--><source media=\"(min-width: 660px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 660px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" sizes=\"620px\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 660px)\" sizes=\"620px\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 480px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 480px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" sizes=\"605px\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 480px)\" sizes=\"605px\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 0px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 0px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" sizes=\"445px\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 0px)\" sizes=\"445px\" \/><!-- [if IE 9]><\/video>< ![endif]--> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"gu-image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/67a17c584eac3a516112ee8a20e39c6c4a262f6a\/0_99_3700_2221\/master\/3700.jpg?resize=350%2C210&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Yemi Hailemariam outside the FCO.\" width=\"350\" height=\"210\" \/><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"block-share block-share--article hide-on-mobile \" data-link-name=\"block share\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"caption caption--img caption caption--img\">Yemi Hailemariam outside the FCO. Photograph: Alamy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Hailemariam had a meeting with Johnson at the Foreign Office earlier this year. \u201cThe British government needs to do more,\u201d she said. \u201cThe last thing that Boris told me was that I had left him \u2018with a lot to think about\u2019. But I don\u2019t know what that means. There\u2019s no political will and that\u2019s really the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"dfp-ad--inline1\" class=\"js-ad-slot ad-slot ad-slot--inline ad-slot--inline1 ad-slot--rendered\" data-name=\"inline1\" data-link-name=\"ad slot inline1\" data-google-query-id=\"CNCp6-z61NYCFUq1swodH2QF2A\" data-mobile=\"1,1|2,2|300,250|fluid\" data-desktop=\"1,1|2,2|300,250|620,1|620,350|fluid\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/59666047\/theguardian.com\/world\/article\/ng_0__container__\" class=\"ad-slot__content\">Maya Foa, the director of Reprieve, which is campaigning for Tsege\u2019s freedom, said: \u201c[He] has suffered extreme abuses at the hands of the Ethiopian government, from kidnap to torture to an unlawful death sentence imposed for his political views while he was living with his family in London.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cBy failing to secure Andy\u2019s return to his partner and three children in the the UK, Boris Johnson is failing to stand up for British values and the rights of a vulnerable British citizen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a public letter to the foreign secretary earlier this year, two former justice secretaries and a former DPP \u2013 Dominic Grieve QC, Lord Falconer QC and Lord Macdonald QC \u2013 also urged Johnson to call for Tsege\u2019s \u201cimmediate release\u201d in \u201cthe light of the international law violations\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>In an <a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/andargachew-tsege-british-national-currently-detained-in-ethiopia-open-letter-to-supporters\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">open letter published in August<\/a> on the Foreign Office website, Johnson said he had raised Tsege\u2019s case with the Ethiopian government on numerous occasions.<\/p>\n<p>He added: \u201cBritain does not interfere in the legal systems of other countries by challenging convictions any more than we would accept interference in our judicial system.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do, however, lobby strongly and consistently against the application of the death penalty &#8230; Neither calling for his release nor reducing our commitment to the Ethiopian people would be helpful at this stage. It could, in fact, damage the progress we have made in this case, including consular access to Mr Tsege.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Source \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 The Guardian<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Heads of Law Society and Bar Council ask foreign secretary to seek release of Andargachew Tsege, who was kidnapped in 2014 &nbsp;Placards outside the Foreign Office in London, April 2015. Photograph: Alamy Ethiopia Boris Johnson urged to intervene to save Briton on death row in Ethiopia Heads of Law Society and Bar Council ask foreign [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":60212,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ethiopanorama.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/untitled-Andi.png?fit=300%2C179&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60206"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60211,"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60206\/revisions\/60211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/60212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}