ANDARGACHEW TSEGE DETENTION
Thank you to all those constituents who have contacted me about the detention of Andargachew Tsege.
I can assure you that as a detained British national, Mr Tsege’s welfare remains of the utmost importance to the UK Government. Ministers and officials continue to press the Ethiopian authorities for regular consular access, as enshrined in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. The UK Ambassador has visited Mr Tsege on more than one occasion since his detention.
The Government has expressed deep concern to the Ethiopian authorities about Mr Tsege’s removal from Yemen to Ethiopia, and have sought assurances that due legal process will be followed and the death sentence imposed in absentia will not be carried out. The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle and the Government continues to call on all countries around the world that retain the death penalty to cease its use.
Kwasi Kwarteng MP