Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to secure the release of Andargachew Tsege in Ethiopia.

The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has raised Mr Tsege’s case with his Ethiopian counterpart Dr Tedros 21 times, most recently on 13 February. I have also raised this case, most recently on 28 January. I have met with Mr Tsege's partner, Yumi Hailemariam. We have asked that Mr Tsege has access to a lawyer and a legal route through which he can challenge his detention. The Foreign Secretary has asked the Ethiopians to set out a timeline in which this will happen.