Norwegian-Ethiopian extradited from South Sudan to Ethiopia
The Norwegian citizen and human rights activist Okelo Ochala Aquai imprisoned in Ethiopia for the Southern Sudanese authorities have arrested and then extradited him. UD is briefed on the matter.
NTB
Updated:
- We provide consular assistance, says communications consultant Svein Michelsen Foreign Ministry said.
He confirmed that Aquai is a Norwegian citizen and that UD is familiar with the matter. The Norwegian Embassy in Addis Ababa now assisting Aquai, says Michelsen, who did not want to say anything more about the matter.
Okelo Aquai is past president of the troubled Gambella region of Ethiopia.He came to Norway as a refugee after he allegedly exposed human rights violations committed by the Ethiopian government in Gambella.
It is unclear why Aquai arrested. But according to information NTB has received, he was taken by South Sudanese security forces on the border between South Sudan and Uganda. He should have been held in the Southern Sudanese capital of Juba before he was extradited to Ethiopia.
Ethiopia has long been criticized for a lack of respect for democracy and human rights and to turn increasingly harder down on the opposition. In recent years, a number of the country's leading dissidents and journalists imprisoned.
No comments:
Post a Comment