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Ethiopia pardons abducted Briton on death row

Regime critic Andargachew Tsege was seized during stopover in Yemen in 2014 A Briton who has spent four years on death row in Ethiopia after being abducted at an airport in Yemen has been pardoned. Andargachew Tsege, an opponent

Regime critic Andargachew Tsege was seized during stopover in Yemen in 2014

A Briton who has spent four years on death row in Ethiopia after being abducted at an airport in Yemen has been pardoned.

Andargachew Tsege, an opponent of the regime in Addis Ababa, first came to the UK in 1979. He holds British citizenship and was sentenced to death in his absence nine years ago. His wife, who has not seen him in four years, told the Guardian that she expected him to be back at their home in London this week.

Tsege was abducted during a stopover in Yemen while travelling from Dubai to Eritrea and forcibly flown to the Ethiopian capital. He had previously been secretary general of Ginbot 7, an opposition party that called for democracy, free elections and civil rights in Ethiopia.

Last year the heads of both branches of the legal profession in England and Wales urged the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, to intervene more forcefully in the case. Johnson had said he would not interfere in the legal systems of other countries and that calling for Tsege’s release would not be helpful “at this stage”.

Tsege’s partner, Yemi Hailemariam, said she hoped Tsege, 63, would be released from jail by Monday and back home in London by the end of the week. “He has been pardoned due to what are called ‘special circumstances’,” she said.

“Although he was born there, the rule is that once you take up another nationality you lose your Ethiopian nationality. He’s a British citizen and so doesn’t have a valid permit to stay there. The only obstacle would be getting a flight back to London but there’s one every day.

Hailemariam, who lives in London with the couple’s three children, said that she has not seen her husband in four years. “I wasn’t allowed to visit him,” she said. “I only spoke to him by phone once. So I’m waiting for him to call me. He’s beginning to have medical issues so it’s a good time for him to come home.”

His daughter Menabe, 18, has promised the first thing she will do is “tackle and hug” him, Hailemariam said. “They have missed him over the past four years and so much has changed. There’s been a change of prime minister in Ethiopia and he has accelerated the pardoning begun by his predecessor. They have kept their word. They are releasing a huge number of people,” Hailemariam said.

The British ambassador in Addis Ababa, she added, had been “amazing” in providing support and help.

The Foreign Office has supported Tsege’s family during his detention. The case has been raised repeatedly with the Ethiopian government. A spokeswoman said: “Foreign Office staff are assisting a British man following the announcement of a formal government pardon in Ethiopia, and are in close contact with his family.”

The human rights organisation Reprieve said Tsege’s abduction was politically motivated and welcomed the pardoning.

Maya Foa, the charity’s director, said: “After four unbelievably hard years on death row this is wonderful news for Andy, his partner and their children. The new Ethiopian government should be recognised for what they have done today. The most important thing now is that Andy is released from prison and able to reunite with his family as soon as possible.”

theguardian.com
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48 COMMENTS
  • Yemane May 29, 2018

    ተጋሩ ከበሳ፡- ናይ አያታትና ዛኩርዕ ታሪክ ብጭልፋ;

    “ትግራይ እንተፀቢቓስ ክንሕመ ኢና ዝበሃል ነገር እንታይ እዩ? ዝበለ ይበል እምበር እንታይ ገደሰካ።”

    “ምፍልላይ ፅቡቕ ከይኑ ኣይኮነን። ግን ካብ ምሟት ይሓይሽ።…ኣነ ሃገር ኣይንደልን ኣይበልኩን። ሃገር ዘየድልዮም እትሃልዮም ግን መስርሕ ኣለዎ እየ ዝበልኩ።” መምህር ሙሉወርቂ ኪ/ማርያም

    ኣብ ህልው ሃገራዊ ኩነታት፤ ብፍላይ ድማ ግድ ተጋሩ ኣብ ህንፀት እዛ ሃገር ካብ ትማሊ ክሳብ ሎሚ፣ ከምኡ ድማ ሎሚ ኣብ ልዐሊ ተጋሩ ብዛዕባ ዝበፅሑ ዘለው በደላትን መፍቲሒታቶምን ብዝምልከት መምህርና መምህር ሙሉዎርቂ ኪዳነማርያም ሰፊሕ መብርሂ ሂቡና ኣሎ። ጋዜጠኛታት ነጋ ዘርኡ ን ኣቤል ጉዕሽ ን እዮም እቲ ቃለ መጠይቕ ገይረምዎ እሞ ንዕኦም ንመምህርን እናመስገና ሰናይ ንባብ ንብል።

    ውራይና፦ መምህር ናብ ጥንተ ታሪኽ ምልስ በልሞ ምስረታ ናይዛ ሃገር ግደ ተጋሩን ኣስፍሕ ኣቢልካ ብምዝርዛር ጀምረልና?

    መምህር ሙሉወርቅ፦ ናይ መንግስትነት ታሪክ ክንዛረብ እንተኾይንና፤ ኣብዛ ሃገር እቲ ኣብ እዘን ናይ ሎሚ ትግራይን ኤርትራን ዝነበረ ዘይተቋረፀ ምሕደራ እዩ እቲ ናይ መጀመርያ ግኑን መንግስቲ። ኣብ ካልኦት ምምሕዳራት ኣይነበሩን ማለት ኣይኮነን። ግን ስፍሓቱን ዕምቆቱን ኣፀቢቑ ክሳብ ሎሚ ዘይተገልፀ፤ ብደረጃ ዓለም ስልጡን ዝብሃል፤ ምሁራዊ ዝኾነ ስልጣነ (litrate civilization) ዘፍረየ፤ ታሪኹን ልምዱን እምነቱን ኣብ ፅሑፍ ዘስፈረ፤ ብዙሕ ቅያ ዝገበረ’ሞ ምስ ናይቲ እዋን ሓያላት መንግስታት ዓለም፤ ጥንኩር ርክብ ዝነበሮ መንግስቲ ዝተመስረተ ኣብዚ ከባቢ እዩ።

    ናይ’ዚ መንግስቲ’ዚ ታሪክ ሓደ ሓደ ሻዕ ኣብ ኣተረጓጉማ ንፀቢብ ቦታ ከምዘገልግል ተባሂሉ ይትርጎም። ሓደሓደሻዕ ድማ ሓዋሳይ(inclusive) ክኸውን እናተባህለ ንዝምልከቶን ዘይምልከቶን ደሪብካ ምሃብ ውን ኣሎ። ኣብዚ ሕዚ ሰሜን ኢትዮጵያ እንብሎ ከባቢ (ንኤርትራ ዝሓወሰ) ባዕሎም ንባዕሎም ዝገልፁሉ ፅሑፍ ዝነበሮም ስልጡናት ምምሕዳራት ነይሮም እዮም። ኣብ 4ይ ክፍለ ዘመን ናይ ኢዛና ታሪኽ ጥራሕ አኳ እንተርኢና፤ ንጉስ ኣኽሱም፣ ሄሚያር፣ ቤጋ፣ ኢትዮጵያ፣ ካሱ ወዘተ ዝብል እዩ ነይሩ። ስለዚ እታ ብኢዛና ኢትዮጵያ ትብሃል ዝነበረት ፤ ምስዛ ናይ ሕዚ ኢትዮጵያ እትገጥም ኣይነበረትን። ኢዛና ከም ንጉስ ኢትዮጵያ ተገይሩ ክውሰድ እንከሎስ፤ ኢዛና ዝገዝኦ ዝነበረ ቦታን ህዝብን ኣየናይ እዩ ዝብል ብዙሕ ዘይፈለጥናዮ መፅናዕቲ ዘድልዮ እዩ።

    መንግስቲ ኣኽሱም እዩ ስልጡን ዝነበረ ኢልና ክንዛረብ ከለና በቱ ዝረኸብናዮ ቅርስታት ኢና ንዛረብ ዘለናምበር ፤ ኣብ ዝሓለፈ ዓመት ንኣብነት 700 ገዛውቲ ዝነበሮ ናይ ማይ ኣድራሻ ( ዓዲ ጃራ ማራ) ኳዕቲ ምስተኻየደ ድማ ቅድሚ ኣኽሱም ዝነበረ ታሪክ ዝተወደበ ሕብረተሰብ ተረኺቡ ኣሎ። ገና ካልኦት እውን ኣብ ከይዲ ክርከቡ ይኽእሉ። እዙይ ብድምር ዘርእየና ኣብዚ ከባቢዚ ውዕውዕ ስልጣነ ከምዝነበረ እዩ። ንኽልተ ኣውላዕሎ እንተመፂእና ናይ ጋዕዋ ታሪኻዊ ቦታ ኣሎ። ገለ ሰባት እቲ ናይ ጋዕዋ ታሪክ ምስ ዮት ጉዲት የተሓሕዝዎ እዮም። ካብ ደቡብ ሱዳን ዝተበገሰት ምኳና ዝገልፁ’ውን ካልኦት ፀሓፍቲ ታሪክ ኣለዉ። ብዝኾነ ብግእዝ ፤ ብግሪክ፤ ብሳባውያን ዝተፃሕፉ ቀዳሞት ስልጣነታት ኣለዉና። ክሳብ ታሽዓይ ክፍለዘመን ዝነበረ ናይ ኣኽሱም ስልጣነውን ብብዙሓት ቅርስታት መንነቱ ዘረጋገፀ ታሪኽ ኣለና።

    ዳሓር እቲ ስልጣነ ካብ ኣኽሱም ናብ ከባቢ ላሊበላ ምሕላፉ፤ ኣብ ላሊበላ ከዓ ናይ ዛግዌ ዝብሃል ስርወ-መንግስቲ ከምዝመፀ ይፍለጥ እዩ። ዛግዌ ግን ናይ መንግስቲ ኣኽሱም ወራሲ ድዩ ኣይኮነን? ኢልካ ምዝራብ ሕዚ፤ ነቲ ናይ ኢትዮጵያ ዋሕዚ ታሪኽ ንምፅብባቕ እንተዘይኮይኑ፤ እንታይ እዩ ትርጉሙ? ናይ ላሊበላን ኣኽሱምን ዝብል ታሪኽ ኣፀቢቕካ ክምርመር ዘለዎ እዩ። ኣብ ላሊበላ ናይ ኣኽሱምን ገረዓልታን ይሓን ዝኣመሰሉ ፍልጠታት ሒዙ ዝተመስረተን ዝተሃንፀን ህንፃታት ከምዘሎ ፈፂምካ ዝከሓድ ኣይኮነን። እዙይ ፅልዋ ድዩስ ቀጥታዊ ርክብ ንምባል ግን ኣፍካ መሊእኻ ዘዛርብ ኣይኮነን። ብድሕሪዚ ኣብ ከባቢ ወሎ ኣማራ ሳይንት ዝበሃል ከባቢ ዝተልዓለ ነቲ ስርወ መንግስቲ ዛግዌ ዘውደቐ ምንቅስቓስ ድማ ካልእ ሳልሳይ እዩ ነይሩ።

    ንኻልኦት ኣሰኵኑ ንባዕሉ ማእኸል ኮይኑ ዝተመስረተ ይኩኖ ኣምላኽ ኣብ ከባቢ ሽዋ ዝጀመሮ ዘመነ መንግስቲ ነይሩ እዩ። ዘመነ መንግስቲ ይኩኖ ኣምላኽ ኣብ ኣዋሳኒ ከባብታት ሽዋን ወሎን ክጣየሽ እንተሎ፤ ምስቶም ኣብኡ ዝነበሩ ህዝብታት ሰላማውን ግጭታውን ርክባት ነይርዎ። ሕዚ እዚታት ብምጥባቕ ኢና እቲ ናይ ኢትዮጵያ ታሪኽ እነለጋግቦ። ነዞም ነገራት በበይኖም’ዶ እንተነፅንዖም ምሓሸ ወይስ ስቕ ኢልና ቀባቢእና ናይ ነዊሕ ዘበን ታሪኽ ዘለዋ ሃገር ኢልና ንፍጠር ዝብል ንባዕሉ ዝኸኣለ ብዙሕ ክርክር ዝላዓሎ ጉዳይ እዩ።

    ብዘይከሓድ መንገዲ ግን እቲ ናይ ኣኽሱም ስልጣነ ዓብይ ስልጣነ ከምዝነበረ ምስቶም ሽዑ እዋን ዝነበሩ ምስ ሮምን ካልኦትን ሓያላት መንግስታት ዓለም ርክብ ዝነበሮ ፤ ቀይሕ ባሕሪ ሰጊሩ’ውን ዓበይቲ ፅልዋታት ዘሕደረ መንግስቲ ብምንባሩ ኣብዚ ከባቢና ፅልዋ ኣየሕደረን ክብሃል ኣይኽእልን። እዚ ከዓ ኣብ ካልኦት ከባብታት ዓለም እውን ዝተገብረ እዩ። ንኣብነት ላቲን ኣብ ሓደ ከባቢ ተጀሚሩ ናብ ሰፊሕ ቦታ ተዘርጊሑ ፅልዋ አሕዲሩ እዩ። ስለዚ እቲ ናይ ግእዝን ትግርኛን ጥንታዊ ስልጣነ እውን ከምኡ ፅልዋ አሕዲሩ እዩ። ሰብ ህይወቱን ስርሑን ከቕልለሉ ዝኽእል ነገር ኣንቶኒ ካብ ጎረቤቱ ይልቃሕ፣ ይወርስ ወይ ይመሃር እዩ። ብሓፂሩ ወዲ ሰብ ካልእ ዘጥረዮ ነገር ምእንቲ ባዕሉ ክብል ክወስድ ባህሪያዊ እዩ። ዳሕራይ ብግእዝ ዝተፃሕፈ እምነታትናን ኣተሓሳስባታትናን ኩሉ ቀስ እናበለ ይሰርፅ ስለዝነበረ ካልኦት ካባና ተቐቢሎም ተጠቒሞምሉ ክንብል ንኽእል።

    • Danilo May 29, 2018

      Yemane,ብመሰርት ኣርእስቲ ርእይቶ ሃብ።ብዝተረፈ፡ታሪኽ ኢትዮጲያ ኣይኮነን ዘገድሰና።ዘገድሰና እንዳ ፈለጥካ ጽውጽዋይ ? ንሓደ መምህር ( fake scientist ) ደርሆን ማይ ደርሆን ከም ዘይ ንፈልጥ ኣብዚ ኣሰና ክትምህር ኣይትፈትን።ሕለፍ ናብ ዘፈልጡኻ።እቲ ካብ ኩሉ ዝገርም ግን ኣሎ።ንሱ ድማ ሎሚ ትግራይ ማዕቢላ እያ ፡ህዝቢ ኢትዮጲያ’ውን 110ሚልዮን እዩ፡ብዝወሓደ፡ወደብ ዓሰብ ትግብኦ እያ፡ሓይሊ ባሕሪ እንኮላይ፡ኣብየት ኣብየት ጽውጽዋይ!!!ይምሓረኒ ወ-ይስሃለ’ኒ።

      • Hagos May 29, 2018

        Danilo writes “” ኣብየት ኣብየት ጽውጽዋይ!!! ”

        “ንሕና እኳ ዓረብ ኢና ። ታሪኽና መንነትና ቋንቋና ዓረብ እዩ። በዓል ሱድያ ዒራቓ ኣል-ምስርያ ኣል-ሱርያ ኣል-ሱዳንያ ካብዞም በዓል ትግራይ ዓፋር ጉራጊ ሶማል ኦሮሞ ንላዕሊ ይቐርቡና። ትግረ ትግርኛ እንታይና ኮይኑ?” ዝበሉ በዓል መን ድዮም?

        • k.tewolde May 30, 2018

          Hagos,Yemane and Co. what is that you want from us?yes,we do speak tigrigna,eat the same food,dress and dance the same way so does the Pakistanis and Afghanistanis and so are many sovereign neighbor nations in Africa,Middle east,Europe and far east.Despite the stark similarities in the language spoken and ways of life,they maintain a separate and distinct national identity and a patriotic mindset framed within that context.Translation– you are Ethiopians!,we are Eritreans!you have your own issues so do we,mind your own business so would we.If you genuinely want to nurture the relationship there is a myriad of noble ways of doing it instead of this redundant “ኣብየት ኣብየት ጽውጽዋይ!!!”as Danilo put it.

        • almaz May 30, 2018

          Muluwerk is not a scientist. He was a lecturer of marxcism leninism at asmara university and a member of ESEPA or derg. Hiji weyane entekoinu endie ember anxar weyane eyu neru.

  • Simon G. May 30, 2018

    isayas is really getting mad when he hears this guy is released from prison. Abiyi is also seems he wants to discus with Birhanu Nega and other opposition groups. This is not good, not good at all. Of course it is to isayas.

  • Degoli May 30, 2018

    Great progress in Ethiopia. Lucky that Andargachew Tsege was born in Ethiopia, a land that is not burning its own languages and identity, history and heritage to adopt a fake Saudi and Gulf Arab identity. 🙂 🙂

    • Simon G. May 30, 2018

      Dog Ali,
      You keep repeating the same sentences for many years. You should check up with your psychiatrist. Don’t you think so?

      • k.tewolde May 30, 2018

        Simon,Dog needs to call Bin Faruq in adi halo,give him the number so that he can hear it from the horse’s mouth,otherwise he will keep hounding us with the same mambo jumbo.

  • የማነ May 30, 2018

    K. Tewolde, Amanuel, Ahmed Salih—Thanks God you have cleansed your selves from our Society! Stay where you are for life, irrelevant entity with in an Industrial world. Here is the Good news! “ the Merger and unification of the Tigrai Tegaru and the Kebessa Tegaru is in evitable and will take precedence of all other issues including nationality”-that is the sole guarantor for the progress and survival of the culture, Language, history of this ancient people. ሀሶት ንመንነት(identity) አያሰንፎን- ተፈጥሮዊ ሀቂ ስለዝኮነ- እዚ ዘይጥዕሞ ሰብ መንነቱ ዛጥፈአ እንሰሳ ጥራህ’ዩ ክከውን- እዚ ዕላማና ከም ሻዕብያን ወያነን ብዱላ ዘይኮነ- ብሥነ መጎትን ብሥነ ሀሳብን ሕዝብና አዕሚና- ብህዝባዊ ሬፍረንዶም’ዩ- ኪዛዘም!፣ ክሳብ ሂዚ ኣብ ጎስጓስና ሕዝቢ ብጣዕሚ ምስታህጓስ ይቅበሎሎ- ስለምንታይ አብዚ ቁንጣር አብቲ ቁንጣር መጥፊኢና ምኳኑ ስለተረደኦ- ናይ አምሃራይ ሸርሂ መንሂና፣ ናይ ፀአዱ ሕጊ ጉሂፍና- ሕዝብና ናብ ሃደ ጠርኒፍና ኣብ ትህቲ ሃደ መራሂን ሃደ ሥርዓትን ብሳይንስን ቴክኖሎጂን ኣማኢብልና ባህሉን፣ ቋንቋኡን፣ ታሪኩን ዝአቀበ- ሀብቲ ከበብያዊ ዛሃደሰ፣ ብዓለም ተወዳዳራይ ዝኮነ ወለዶ ምፍጣር’ዩ! What do I want from K. Tewolde, Ahmed Salih and Amnuel? I want to you to persuad PFDJ- to exit quietly to join you in the white world- So that my people can pursue their noble renaissance freely!

    • AHMED SALEH !!! May 30, 2018

      Yemane and companys
      I keep telling you hundred times to visit your site tigrai online
      than giving us hard times . Incase your expired dream of
      Tigrai-Tigrigni either Eritreans or Ethiopians in general started
      to laugh for your corrupted minds .

      • almaz May 30, 2018

        He is one of the rotten hgdfs i believe. Why would one write such nonsense at assenna instead of tigraionline or offline if he is tigraway. Fake identity malet ab gonder atika gondere eye malet mukanu resiuwo aymeslenin tigraway tezikewin.

    • almaz May 30, 2018

      Yemane
      Tigrigna tetimahar kidim aymihashekan? Bel kid mesrita ember baff dia dea timisret. Mejemerta weyane dika wala shaebia eka ketetifie. Kiltiom keyetfaeka aytimisritan eka meches ezia titesakaya aybilin eye. Ooops…weyane leka shima keyraya wishimaa amharayn oromon misketketa. Agazi agazian kemzikonet resieyo nere.

  • Simon G. May 31, 2018

    Just curious…
    I think Dog Ali is smoking something unique that can be found in his village. Or, If you remember the genius guy, Haile G/Tensae the Bihere of Seraye, has once said that Ras Alula had settled in the TseAzega region with his thousands of male soldiers.
    Dog-Ali could be the descendants of him, just the Agazian guy, tesfazion.

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