Norwegian man will probably avoid the death penalty in Ethiopia

Addis Ababa.Ethiopia.Photo :commons.wikimedia.org

A Norwegian citizen who has been indicted for terrorist planning and financing of terrorism in Ethiopia, will most likely  avoid the death penalty after being acquitted of violating the country’s anti-terror laws.

Okello Akuay Ochalla was instead found guilty by a provision of the ordinary criminal law of working to divide the nation,  the newspaper Dagbladet writes.
This means he no longer risks no longer being sentenced to death,  his Ethiopian lawyer, Ameha Mekkonen, said in an email to the newspaper.
– Since he is found guilty of  attempted actions, and not having carried out these actions, he can not be sentenced to death by this provision,  Mekkonen says.
Gerald Folkvord of Amnesty International, on the other hand, is unsure whether Ochalla now can rest assured that he will not get the death penalty, and says that the Ethiopian legal system can come up with anything.
The sentencing is scheduled to be announced on April 27, but after a series of delayed and canceled court proceedings through the judicial process, it is not inconceivable that even this date could be postponed.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today