Ekklesia
By agency reporter
Published on August 10,2015
A group of legislators from the US, UK and Europe have demanded the release of a British activist who has been held in a secret Ethiopian prison for over a year.
Andargachew ‘Andy’ Tsege, a prominent figure in the Ethiopian opposition, was abducted at a Yemeni airport in June 2014 and forcibly taken to Ethiopia. He has been held since in a secret location, and has been denied access to a lawyer, his family, proper consular visits and independent medical treatment. (http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/21899)
Andargachew Tsege was sentenced to death in absentia in 2009 on charges relating to his political activities. Torture of political prisoners in Ethiopia is common, and the UN and human rights organisation Reprieve – which is assisting Mr Tsege’s family – have raised concerns that he is being mistreated.
In a letter to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn, the group – which includes US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, British MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Emily Thornberry, Baron Dholakia of the UK House of Lords, and MEPs Ana Gomes and Richard Howitt – called Ethiopia’s behaviour “unconscionable and illegal.”
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