Press release

Ethiopian Chargé d’Affaires summoned to FCO over detention of British national

Minister for Africa summoned Ethiopian Chargé d’Affaires to raise concerns about arrest of a Briton

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

The Chargé d’Affaires at the Ethiopian Embassy in the UK, Mr Demeke Atnafu, was summoned to the Foreign Office this afternoon to meet the UK’s Minister for Africa, Mark Simmonds MP.

Mr Simmonds expressed deep concern that the Ethiopian authorities had not allowed consular access to Mr Andargachew Tsege, a British national who has now been detained in Ethiopia for six weeks after being removed from Yemen.

Mr Simmonds asked the Chargé to urge his government to deliver on previous commitments to provide consular access without further delay, and to provide assurances that they do not intend to carry out the death penalty imposed in absentia.

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Published 4 August 2014