Ethiopian police officer sentenced to death for killing Somali regional MP
-
Staff reporter GAROWE ONLINE
- Posted On 13-12-2022, 01:27PM
JIJIGA - A military court sentenced an Ethiopian police officer to death in Jigjiga, the capital of the Somali region over the death of a regional vocal legislator Juweria Subcis in October, in what triggered questions about the safety of VIPs in the Horn of Africa nation.
The military court which sat in the Fafan Zone in the Somali region of Ethiopia found the officer culpable of murder and sentenced him to death based on Ethiopia's criminal code of conduct. The MP's death in October left many people in unprecedented shock within that country.
Juweria Subcis, a central committee member of the ruling Prosperity Party Central Committee and the Somali regional state Parliament, was killed inside the Jigjiga Garad Wilwal Airport in the region's capital on 25 October. The officer opened fire, killing her instantly in the airport while injuring five others.
Abdirashid Mohammed, a Somali regional cabinet member, was seriously wounded in the shooting. Police moved with speed and arrested the police officer, whose conviction now means he will spend the rest of his life in jail over the murder which almost triggered chaos in the Horn of Africa nation.
Mr. Mohammed now claims Juweria's death was predetermined but was "not political". He said the MP had disagreements with federal authorities before her death and that the police officer, however, acted on his own when he opened the fire.
Juweria's sister, Fowsia Musse, an American community organizer, and Musse's 14-year-old son were also seriously injured. Musse returned to the US with her two youngest children after undergoing a leg amputation in Ethiopia in late October.
The sentencing ends weeks of horror for the family which has been seeking justice for the youthful MP. The country has been battling also instability in the Tigray region where thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced following a conflict between the Ethiopian National Defense Forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front.
GAROWE ONLINE
