{"id":8104,"date":"2016-09-06T11:56:01","date_gmt":"2016-09-06T11:56:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reprieve.org.uk\/?page_id=8104"},"modified":"2021-03-22T11:07:05","modified_gmt":"2021-03-22T11:07:05","slug":"9-year-old-suing-government-to-bring-back-kidnapped-father","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/uk\/2016\/09\/06\/9-year-old-suing-government-to-bring-back-kidnapped-father\/","title":{"rendered":"9-year-old suing Government to bring back kidnapped father"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On 7 September the High Court in London will hear the case of a nine year old British girl who is suing the UK Government for its failure to request the release of her father, Andy Tsege, who was kidnapped and rendered to Ethiopia\u2019s death row in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawyers for Menabe Andargachew, from London, began judicial review proceedings earlier this year against the Foreign Office (FCO) over ministers\u2019 handling of her Father\u2019s case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is astounding that, over 2 years on from this British father\u2019s kidnapping and rendition, the Foreign Office has not simply asked for him to be released. It\u2019s clear that Andy faces no prospect of due process in Ethiopia, as he\u2019s already received an illegal in absentia death sentence which the Ethiopian Government has confirmed he has no hope of appealing. The British government must not allow Andy\u2019s abuse to go on any longer \u2013 it must urgently call for his release, so that he can return to his family in London.<\/em>\u201d – Maya Foa, Director of Reprieve\u2019s death penalty team<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andy, a British citizen, was kidnapped and illegally rendered to Ethiopia by the forces of that country in June 2014. He remains held there under a sentence of death, which was imposed in absentia in 2009 in relation to his political opposition to the Ethiopian ruling party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andy\u2019s daughter Menabe is challenging the UK\u2019s refusal to ask for her father\u2019s release, a request it has made in a number of similar cases. Her lawyers argue that given the illegality of Andy\u2019s kidnap, detention and death sentence, the UK\u2019s current stance is unlawful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than asking for Andy\u2019s release, the FCO has limited itself to requesting that the Ethiopian Government that give him access to a lawyer – despite recent statements by the Ethiopian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister that \u201cthere is no appeal process\u201d available to Andy, and that that it is \u201cnot possible\u201d for him to appeal his in absentia death sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Image<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In August, it was revealed that Andy had not yet been given a pen with which to write a request for a lawyer \u2013 over two months after the UK Foreign Secretary claimed he had \u201csecure[d] legal representation.\u201d In an open letter published on the FCO\u2019s website after the revelations, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson defended the UK\u2019s position, saying: \u201cI am aware of the suggestion that the UK Government should directly call for Mr Tsege\u2019s release\u2026 Britain does not interfere in the legal systems of other countries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

British officials have repeatedly expressed doubts about the legality of Andy\u2019s ordeal, saying in 2014 \u2013 in emails obtained by Reprieve \u2013 that they \u201chave not been shown any evidence [against Andy] that would stand up in a UK court\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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