Reprieve writes to Boris Johnson over British citizen’s Ethiopian detention

Human rights group Reprieve has written to Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in support of a British citizen on death row in Ethiopia, who they say continues to be refused access to a lawyer.

Andargachew Tsege, a prominent opposition political activist, was abducted by Ethiopian security forces from an international airport in 2014 and has been detained under an in absentia death sentence since then.

In June, then-Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond announced that he “received a commitment from the Prime Minister that Mr Tsege will be allowed access to independent legal advice”.

However, Reprieve, which is assisting Mr Tsege, says that he has not received legal access and has even been denied even the writing materials he would need to request a lawyer.

Reprieve wrote to Mr Johnson on 11 August to alert him to the latest developments, but has yet to receive a reply.

Maya Foa, director of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said: “Andy was illegally sentenced to death while living in London, illegally kidnapped and rendered to Ethiopia where he has been held in unlawful detention for over two years.

“Not only are the Ethiopian authorities refusing him a lawyer – they won’t even provide pen and paper so he can request one.

“The British Government must now recognise that Ethiopia is not serious about the rule of law, and demand that Andy is released immediately from his unlawful detention and returned to his family in London.”