Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-05-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to ask the government of Ethiopia to release Andy Tsege following his alleged torture and sentencing to death without a court hearing, and if not, why not.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Government takes the detention and welfare of Mr Andargachew Tsege, who was transferred from Yemen and is imprisoned in Ethiopia, very seriously. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Philip Hammond), has raised Mr Tsege’s case with his Ethiopian counterpart over 20 times. The Minister for Africa, my Hon Friend, the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge) has also raised the case, most recently on 8 January. Our focus has been on lobbying for Mr Tsege to have access to an independent lawyer who is able to advise him of his legal options. We believe that this is the best way to grant Mr Tsege the opportunity to resolve this case. Ministerial lobbying has already achieved the transfer of Mr Tsege to a normal federal prison and regular consular visits. We will continue to lobby the Ethiopian government until Mr Tsege is given access to a lawyer, and until our concerns about Mr Tsege’s case have been fully addressed.